Company News

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The saturated South-West!

Weather does play a big part in our installations.

Fortunately, we’ve been lucky so far this year and only have had to postpone one fit because of theflooding.

Which to be honest is surprising, seeing as all of our fits are located in the South West, and often South Wales – both areas severely hit by the ferocious floods of the last few weeks and the gale force winds.

I think anyone with a build project happening at the moment will tell you that the weather is a hugely important factor when making changes to your property, and constant downpours and hurricane style winds are definitely not appreciated.

Most of the sites we’ve visited recently have been mud-baths according to our fitters, especially sites where there is lots of building work going on.

Of course, this is something that can’t be helped, but it certainly hinders our installation process – as there are certain things that cannot (and shouldn’t!) happen during a fitting in such poor conditions.

Rain rain go away...

When fitting on a bustling building site, with dust, mud and paint still being flung around, then it is especially important that your doors are protected with either dust sheets or damp course sheeting.

 The terrible weather we’ve been having recently does tend to add to the chaos of an already building site – making small problems like this more and more common.

However – any problems we have experienced in the last few weeks have been very small, in comparison to the widespread devastation the weather has caused.

Our vans have managed to brave the deep floods surrounding us and power through to their installations as scheduled.

Canoes & Jet-skis to the rescue! 

As you can see above – we are prepared to go to great lengths to get to our customers! 

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Although chilly, the weather certainly hasn't been putting people off their build projects. We're still booked through to the last week of October currently, with new fits being scheduled daily.

I think now especially, people want to have everything done in time for Christmas and those that have planned accordingly are getting the majority of their projects finished early on.

That's not to say we won't still be fitting bifold doors in December!

You can see a glimpse of some of our recent installations in the picture above. We've been fitting in rain, wind and, more recently... floods.

For the past few weeks there has been severe flooding in and around Bristol due to the bordering-on-ridiculous amount of rain we've been experiencing lately.

We are proud to say however, that we only had to postpone one installation due to the floods (two days later) and that was because there was a 'puddle' (more like lake) outside our premises that was swallowing cars by the minute!

Look out for #bifoldadvice!

We are also in the process of creating a bifold door advice hash-tag on Twitter. At least once a day, from today onwards, we will be sharing a snippet of our wealth of bifold knowledge with you all! From cills to handles and door furniture – no bifold stone will be left unturned!

So if you fancy learning a bit more about the ins and outs (pun intended!) then keep checking #bifoldadvice – and learn something new everyday!

Or you could cheat...

And learn all about bifolds in one go by downloading our bifold buyer's guide below this post....

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Hello Autumn...

As most of Britain was busy complaining about our lack of summer we seem to have failed to realise that whilst it wasn't blue skies and sunshine everyday, it was at least mildly warm.

With the very sudden and noticeably colder appearance of autumn, I think it's safe to say we wish we had our damp July back.

As with any change of season, the colder weather brings forward new issues in the door and glazing industry.

As featured in my last post, external condensation becomes a more frequent occurrence, and the weather changes the priorities of our customers – the majority wanting (and needing) their projects to be completed before the real biting cold sets in.

A general guide...

Priorities of our customers are usually design, price, lead time, and energy-efficiency – maybe not always in that order.

But throughout the year, there are factors which alter the leading priority of clients. For example, at this time of the year – as I mentioned above – lead time is much more important than say the spring, when people are safe in the knowledge of a long hot (or not as we've found this year...) summer ahead of them.

The closer to Christmas we are, the more urgent order's become as everyone wants build projects completed and decorated by December 25th! Not just for impressing their festive guests, but to ensure that they are well sealed against the snow (or sleet for England) and not losing heat.

So really, as the nights draw in lead times and energy efficiency are the key factors our customers are concerned with.

Fortunately for us, we are able to dispel both worries instantly.

Firstly, with our standard colour aluminium bifold doors we are able to provide a 2 week turnaround time = big smiles on our customer's faces come November!

Secondly, we are able to provide performance glass – making their heat loss worries a thing of the past and in fact making their homes MORE thermally efficient.

Things to keep in mind...

1. Remember to keep your schedule on hand, and make sure your installer knows exactly when you need your doors.

2. Always ask about other glazing options, you'll be surprised at the choice available and benefit of having an alternative to standard double glazing.

3. Keep a price figure in mind when deciding on an installer, but be flexible – and remember that you get what you pay for – don't fall for false economy.

4. No matter what time of year, design is important. Make sure you are purchasing something suitable for you, and your home and that your installer is aware of what you want the finished outcome to look like.

5. Don't rush into a sale! Take your time, go through your options and make an informed decision – you'll thank yourself later!

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If you want to get your project started now, please feel free to give us a call (0117 992 3101) to arrange a home visit, or pop into our showroom and we'll show you our doors!

If you want to know a bit more about bifold doors first, or how we operate as a company have a roam around our website or download the bifold buyer's guide below this post.

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Decision making...

Making any kind of dramatic change to your home requires some well thought-out decision making regarding the product you're purchasing or having built – be it bifolds, decking or a complete new extension, and also the way you want the item installed or built (as I mentioned in my 'Do's and Don'ts' post last week).

But what I think is often overlooked by the customer, is who is actually building/fitting/constructing this exciting project that you've spent so much time and money on!

Especially in this economic climate, business is business and many companies are expanding their capabilities so they are able to complete as many jobs as possible.

And while this may be benefitting them in the short term financially, it would certainly make me wonder (as a customer) if they truly had in depth knowledge and experience of every single product they were selling/installing.

For example...

If I were to buy a watch – I would much prefer to buy a watch from a company that specialised in watches and were dedicated to that particular product, rather than a company whom I could also buy my week's shopping, some new clothes and a TV from.

What I'm getting at is I would rather by my watch – or bifold doors – from a company who were experts in their field, and knew everything there was to know about their watches.

Rather than a company who knew a tiny bit about a lot of products.

Know your installer!

So really, all I'm saying is – get to know your installer! Make sure they know bifold doors inside out, and can answer all of your questions.

For example, our fitters and staff are constantly re-trained by Origin Origin, the manufacturer of our Bifold doors.

This means that our standard of bifold fitting is consistently at the highest level. They also fit bifold doors every day of the week. No exceptions.

This is why we are happy to call ourselves bifold door specialists because it is WHAT WE DO.

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To begin, let's just take a moment to mourn the British summer – this year it has been, for the most part, non-existent.

Rain, wind, temperatures all over the place; not ideal.

Interestingly, this hasn't put customers (ours at least...) off completing their home improvement projects or getting on and finishing their extensions.

Since the end of May we have been booked solidly, and although several jobs have been held up due to rain, it is good to see the British public aren't letting the weather ruin their plans.

If anything, now is a great time to improve your home (particularly installing new windows and doors).

Because if the weather stays this miserable the best way to enjoy your garden/patio/views will be through some weather-proof glass!

Now to move on to the main point of this rambling post...on my return to the office I caught up with the other industry blogs, and was interested by the moral of the short story DGB mentioned in his post (click here to read...it's pretty relevant to this post so you probably should).

He is basically trying to enforce the age-old rule, that as a retailer you must stay in touch with your customer throughout the sale, good news, bad news and even when there is no news.

This is especially important in the door and window industry.

Whether it is installing windows and doors into a brand new extension, fitting bifolds to replace tired patio doors or just replacing a lock – decorating and changing an aspect of your home is a personal thing and a simple exchange of money and signing of contracts isn't good enough.

We expect the customer to want us to update them every step of the way.

And it pays off. Reputation is everything and we are both protective and extremely proud of ours. We are frequently reassured that we are going about things the right way when we receive testimonials like the one below that we were sent from a family we installed some bifold doors for.

I've highlighted the points the customer makes that I think are relevant to what I've been talking about...

Testimonial:

"We cannot recommend Bristol Bi-fold highly enough.

We were very impressed right from our first visit to the Bristol Bi-fold showroom where Simon looked at our sketchy renovation designs and discussed different bifold options and the installation process over a cup of coffee and box of baby toys!

His friendly and professional manner filled us with confidence that we would arrive at the best products and design for our needs without us feeling under any pressure to buy.

When our building work did eventually begin, the pricing and ordering procedure was very clear and we were very well supported throughout the whole process. We were also impressed and relieved at how quickly emails were answered, and how reliable the survey/installation timescale was, given that our builder was on a tight schedule........

......A year on, the doors still look and perform as new, despite getting a pretty good hammering from our now 3 year old. We would not hesitate to recommend Bristol Bi-fold, as we are very impressed with the design and quality of the product, the seamlessness of installation, and the excellent level of service and support we received from the team.

Thank you.
Sarah, Dan and Chip."

I think this testimonial says more about how important customer communication is than anything I could write.

It's not just the product that needs to be of outstanding quality, to secure a good reputation within the consumer base, and the industry, the customer service needs to be equally outstanding.

To wrap up, I suppose the overall messages of this post are basically: English weather is dismal but we don't really mind, I agree with DGB and... TALK to your customers!

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Bifold Kitten...

Having Thomas around the office, and the showroom so much has also brought to my attention how bifold doors do effect pets – it might sound silly and obviously this isn't a very common reason for purchasing them, but there are undoubtedly some benefits for cats (and probably all pets alike..)!

Thomas is definitely enjoying the benefits of staying warm and dry whilst having full, uninterrupted view of the 'exciting' torrential downpour outside!

And he's pretty taken with keeping an eye on the showroom when it's empty, and making sure all doors are in working order.

I'll keep this post short and sweet, as I think the video below says it all. He has captured the hearts of most of our staff here, so if you're having a tiring day – have a break and let him entertain you for a minute!

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To start with, I'll need to introduce Mike...

It's Mike that is most likely to be the person that you would have first contact with in attaining a quote, or simply talking over your project. Initially he will take you through the very first steps of your door purchase: prices, components, configurations, styles and lead times.

He'll also offer any guidance that you may need when making these decisions – in terms of previous customer choices and selecting the best type of doors for your situation – be it a south facing sun-trap that would benefit from performance glass or a sea-front facing property that needs more weather proofing than standard.

After quotation (or several if necessary) Mike will then arrange your site survey with our surveyor and finalise the details of your order, which he will then pass on to me (Chloe...) to order and schedule the installation or delivery.

I'd like to point out...

...something that may differ slightly from how other companies operate – is that Mike is not just selling our product, but he is a point of information for our clients. He is also available to talk to about other areas of the project, to recommend local builders or to discuss different options – and he will always try and accommodate the needs and price range of the customer, often going out of his way to give a price that fits in with their budget.

There is a lot of debate (in the blogosphere) regarding the 'hard-sell' – having personally never witnessed a 'hard-sell' I'm not completely familiar with how it works. But I imagine that it's something along the lines of a 'One day only, £1000 drop in price' etc.

For one, I think its pretty patronising to the customer, and two doesn't it completely degrade the quality of the product, if you're willing to sell it at such a loss?

Of course, everyone tries to keep the price as low as possible for the sake of the sale, but at the same time dropping the price so (in my opinion) ludicrously low you are more likely to put off a prospective customer than entice them to buy as you are so clearly employing fast-sale and frankly unprofessional tactics.

By dropping your price so far or using these methods you are essentially telling the customer that you don't think your doors are worth paying full price for, which I think is ridiculous.

We want to sell our product because the product is good!

And we believe the price reflects that. We also think our price reflects our service and the benefits from buying with our company (which I've talked about here, and will go on to talk about even more! ). Meaning that it doesn't matter if a customer takes 3 days or 3 months to come to a decision and sign up the order.

So I guess I completely agree with DGB on this issue, that 'hard-sales' are a thing of the past, and that the industry (along with the rest of the world) has modernised and updated it's sales techniques.

Instead of pressuring a customer to buy just for the sake of making a sale, the emphasis in this economic climate needs to be on the customer being completely happy with what they're buying – so that they are getting precisely what they want, the best value for money and the best service possible.

Yes, this does mean that it's impossible to sell unbelievably cheaply, but - to coin a phrase – you get what you pay for, and I think in this industry it really does ring true.

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DGCOS explained...

Next thing you may not know about Bristol Bifold is that we are a member of the Double Glazing & Conservatory Quality Assurance Ombudsman Scheme (yes it's a bit of a mouthful...). DGCOS is solely there for the protection of the consumer – essentially an independently backed guarantee for your doors and windows. There are a lot of unclear and confusing associations and logos in the home improvement sector – but very few offer the peace of mind that comes with DGCOS.

DGCOS membership is not given out to just any installer!

There are strict regulations to comply with, and all installers are screened before they are given the accreditation. Basically meaning that if you choose an installer that has been accredited by DGCOS, you can be sure that they are respectable and not just recommended by customers but by an integral part of the industry itself.

Now for a few technical facts, we like to make ourselves stand out. We don't just want to offer the customer the standard service that a million other installers also offer. I think personally, this is another thing you as a potential customer should be looking for in an installer. I think offering 'free extras' as a special deal seems a little disappointing, when really, I would want to be offered that 'free extra' as standard. This is exactly how we operate. We provide a free anti-snap, anti-bump lock cylinder (that you can read more about here)  as standard, and we are continually improving our service and looking for new ways to upgrade our doors - giving the customer as much as we possibly can – as standard.

Last things to mention...

We're local. We know Bristol, we know the areas around Bristol – in fact, we travel to install up to 50 miles outside of Bristol. We also offer free online guides for all things Bifold related – actually you can download the buyers guide under this post. And finally, all importantly – we want to give your home the wow factor, we want to get as excited about your home improvement as you are! So if you are in the process of choosing an installer – or even if I haven't answered all your questions with this post – either drop me an email (it's This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or ring the office on 0117 992 3101– we'll all be happy to talk to you. If you want to find out more about DGCOS you can call us of course, or you can visit http://www.dgcos.org.uk/

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Origin electric roller blinds are worth thinking about...

One (rather important) reason would be the economic worth of the blinds and how they add to the overall cost-effective value of the bifold doors. The blinds help control the temperature of the room in which they are installed; in the summer they prevent heat build up – known as solar gain – to reduce the room temperature in hot weather and lessen the need for air conditioning. Even in winter, the blinds are able to further enhance the thermal performance of your doors by once again controlling the temperature of the room.

Basically – the blinds help you stay comfortable all year round, and (helpfully!) they can be valuable in the reduction of your household energy bills.

The choice is yours. 

Not only in the style of the blind but in the fabric, colour and furniture. You are able to decide whether the blinds need to be blackout blinds, look into the different scallop, braid and pull options, you can even have water-resistant blinds for the bathroom…the list goes on! 

In my opinion, the blinds add another aspect of interior design to a room, for example, when decorating or planning the colour-scheme for a room they make an attractive accompaniment to a set of bifold doors whilst co-ordinating with the rest of the room. They become another piece of furniture which not only adds to the look of the room, but is functional and economically advantageous.

As I've already mentioned, we have some of the roller blinds in our show room – please feel free to give us a ring (our number is 0117 992 3101) and come and see them for yourselves. Alternatively – if you would like me to send you out an informative pack about bifold doors including information from Origin blinds – email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Don't forget to download our free buyers guide below, which will explain in detail all you need to know when deciding on the specification of your doors.

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Although only highlighted by the BBC in February 2012...

Lock snapping has been possible in standard locks for a while – hence the introduction of the uprated cylinder lock which many companies are now offering instead of the original locks – however which are only being supplied as standard with a few door fabrication companies.

In the interest of public safety and general home security the UAP+ Anti Snap Cylinder is the first choice for many customers looking to replace the original locking system within their doors. The uprated lock protects against the most commonly recognised methods of burglary – lock snapping or lock bumping.

Another comfort for customers is that the lock is approved by British standards – and is Kitemarked to assure customers of this recognised quality specification.

We chose to start buying in our own UAP locks to replace the standard locks in our doors and adding this to every order free of charge. It is surprising what a difference something so small can make such a positive difference to our customers' peace of mind. They provide added home security, whilst allowing customers to enjoy the convenience and aesthetic benefits of their new bifold doors.

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We hope so....

With our Open Day fast approaching, and our fitters timetables booked solid through to the end of June, we are incredibly busy at the moment – which is no bad thing! Although everyone appreciates the 2 days off for the Queens Jubilee – I think a lot of people in this industry (including ourselves) will be sad to lose two extra fitting days in this peak time!

If you are planning on paying us a visit on June 13th for our Open Day, remember to register your interest here so that we can have a cup of tea (or something stronger...!) waiting for you on arrival!

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There will be informative client packs, a free Bristol Bifold DVD containing technical drawings and product information, and a business card prize draw.

We are even putting on a free lunch for all who attend, including a slice of all important Birthday cake!

Come and wish us Happy Birthday!

On a slightly more serious note, the open day is a great opportunity to come and learn about bifold doors and our other products, as well as a little more about us as a company. The event is specifically aimed at architects, builders and homeowners with stands from our suppliers, hourly CPD presentations, and advice from our fitters, directors and surveyors. However please feel free to come along, even if you just fancy seeing our showroom and talking about your project over lunch!

Feel free to pop in anytime between 9am and 4.30pm on Wednesday June 13th, and make sure to register your place here beforehand, it takes less than a minute! 

If you would like to learn a little more about us, or bifold doors before the event, please download our free buyers guide - there is a link below this post - and get to know bifolds before you visit us.

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More exciting news...

We ran a customer competition at the end of April, which encouraged our past customers to send in a picture of them enjoying their bifold doors and a brief testimonial for the chance to win £100 B&Q vouchers.

Lots of fantastic entries and pictures were sent in, not only of our customers using their bifold doors, but their pets as well! We ended up sending out a £10 B&Q voucher to all of our entrants - that’s how much we loved the pictures!

The above photo was taken by our winning competition entrants of their project. Look out for my next post, it will be a full feature on the lucky winners including a photo by photo guide to their transformed home and their testimonial. 

Fancy creating a similar space in your own home? Download our buyers guide below this post and see if bifold doors could make a positive difference in your home.