Anglian Home Improvements was started in 1966 by George Williams, under the trading name Anglian Windows. It was born in Britain and began trading from Norwich, opening its first showroom in 1969, in the town of Ipswich.

Since then the company has come on leaps and bounds and is now producing some of the best products in the industry, all of which are Made in Britain. The factory produces its own UPVC extrusions solely for its own use in Norwich. We are the only company in Britain that produces its own UPVC extrusions, which are then used in our windows and doors specifically for your home. You should be proud to buy products Made in Britain, as we take so much care to make each individual item, and have so much pride in our windows, doors, and conservatories, that we think it should be something to shout about.

In this current economic climate many countries are supporting their own local companies, factories, and manufacturers to help lift their communities, and we’d like to hope the British people will do likewise. As the article states, David Cameron cannot just tell everyone to Buy British, when half our exports go to the EU, but he can encourage people to buy products produced in the UK. It is not just about British companies, but about buying from any company that is in production in the UK, therefore helping boost the British economy and helping us out of this recession. Believe it or not, the UK is one of the biggest manufacturers in the world, so buying goods that are made in Britain is easier than you thought.

As of next year John Lewis will be putting a Union Jack logo onto each of its British products to show support to British manufacturing. British produced goods are very popular in the food and catering industry, which has seen campaigns to support local farming become a great success in increasing the market.

So, when it comes to choosing your next home improvement company; think about where the products are made, how much money you can save, and how long they are going to last. If you were to install Anglian’s A-rated EcoGain windows, you would be buying a product that is made in Britain, one that will save you money for years to come and one that has a 10 year guarantee, giving you peace of mind that nothing will go wrong.

Anglian home Improvements are the headline sponsors for the Great British Home Show this year too, which is being held at Glow, Bluewater on 31st May – 4th June.

Anglian Home Improvements, made in Britain, made with care, made to last.

The position they were hoping to achieve in the league was 17th place or above to avoid relegation in their first year back in the premiership and with only one game to go they hope to keep their 13th  position,  not unlucky at all!

What a season it has been with the support of the many fans from all over the world, the club and many assistants, this dream has been achieved.

The club takes great pride in being able to thank the fans for their support during the season and one event that the fans can get close to the players is the End of  Season Players Awards Dinner which is to be held at the club on Monday 14th May 2012.

Presentation from last years event with Grant Holt receiving a trophy from Ben Flatt and Andy Brown of Anglian Home Improvements.

Which players do you think will receive the awards this year?

Why not let us know who you think it will be?

The new show hopes to inspire gardeners into transforming their gardens and outside spaces for them to use and enjoy.

The show will be starting at the end of June and runs for six weekly, as a one hour programme starting at 8pm.  David will be presenting the landscape and features during the series.

David Domeny and Alan Titchmarsh

David recently hosted the Garden ER show which was proudly sponsored by Anglian Home Improvements.

Anglain’s connection with David started some two years ago when the idea of a show garden for Hampton Court Flower show was formed.    The ‘naked’ garden idea came from Anglian’s glazing technology, which is always ‘invisible’ to the homeowner’s eye and hidden in the natural transparency of glass.

This gave way to the idea of plants getting their pots off and putting them in glass containers with transparent growing materials, exposing the plants ‘naked’ beauty and uncovering the parts normally hidden. The garden, after months of planning, came to fruition in July 2011 at the Hampton Court garden show, with the aptly named ‘Naked Garden’ winning a Silver award.

David and Alan Titchmarsh have worked together on previous shows and have a great rapport; they are both looking forward to their next TV adventure.

Keep an out  for the new show at the end of June!

Neil Smith, founder of the charity, friends and family manned the stall during the day, raising money towards the charity for this year.

They raised an amazing £523.77 by selling cakes that volunteers had made and kindly donated for the cause.

It was a  great day, Neil said,  if not a long one,  selling tea, coffee and cakes.   Neil wanted to send out a huge thanks to everyone that had donated cakes, and their time in coming to help on the day.

Aldeburgh RNLI Station

Neil said is was good to see sixteen of the cycling team during the course of the day, giving the riders the opportunity to meet their team mates before taking part in the Bobby on a Bike event at the end of the month.  The cyclists had used the day out as part of their training programme, travelling between 50 and 100 miles for the round trip.

If you would like to support Bobby on a Bike or learn more about the event just click

It’s no surprise that the housing market has started to slow down, yet again, the announcement that the UK has slipped into a double-dip recession because our GDP (Growth Domestic Product) has gone back down below 0%, and the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers has come to an end.

I wonder if they’re already planning their next stamp duty holiday? I’m pretty sure I won’t be the only one who will be hoping and praying that this will happen again!

The RICS monthly survey of members who work as estate agents has shown that for the first time since September, sales had fallen in April with the most likely outcome being that house prices will continue to fall except those in London.

Peter Bolton King, housing spokesman for RICS said “With the recent surge in activity brought on by the stamp duty holiday coming to an end, it is unsurprising to see that prices across much of the country are continuing to fall.”

“Renewed concerns over the economy and talk of a double-dip recession dominating the headlines in recent weeks may well have served to undermine consumer confidence”

He added “What’s more, the continuing lack of affordable mortgage finance is still hindering many first-time buyers who cannot afford to get a foot on the property ladder.”

There appears to be a growing amount of evidence which suggests that the brief upturn in activity for the first three months of 2012 has started to decline, is growing steadily with the RICS survey adding to it.

Following the end of the stamp duty holiday on 24th March, not only has both the Halifax bank and building society Nationwide reported that prices dipped in April with activity starting to slow down, the Bank of England has said that in February and March, the number of approved mortgages dramatically declined compared to January.

Chief Executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, Mark Harris, said the death of easily available mortgages was still the biggest influence on the market.

He said “Although interest rates have not risen in more than three years, lenders continue to raise their mortgage rates on the back of the higher cost of wholesale funding.”

“Tougher criteria, particularly regarding interest-only borrowing, are not helping, giving borrowers the impression that it is much harder to get funding.”

He added “Consequently, many aren’t bothering, preferring to adopt a ‘wait and see’ attitude, rather than take the plunge and purchase at the present time.”

We are all used to the standard sizes of conservatories that we’re able to have on our homes today.

Then I noticed a tweet today which said that there was a fabulous conservatory was at the Barbican, and it got me thinking about other lovely conservatories, and  wonders of glass we have in this country.

Each of the three Conservatory’s give us, the user, a great feeling of relaxation and enjoyment, from the warm atmosphere they have, to the plants that they house and for the ability for each and every one of us to just sit down and enjoy their purpose.

Here are three that stand out in my mind….each one very different in style and age but all with their own very distinct feel.
Eden Project

The Eden Project was conceived in 1995/96 and opened its doors in March 2001.  The domes or Biomespheres are as tall as Big Ben and house over 1,000 different rainforest plant species.

Many plants are grown from seed in their own nursery while others come from botanic gardens, research stations and supporters from all over the world.

Kew Gardens

The history of Kew Gardens and how it came in to being has an illustrious history dating back to the Medieval period when the first signs of a settlement and people enjoying the position that it holds on the banks of the river.  Since those very early days it has grown and in the area that it covers, its style and the function of the site being inscribed in 2003 on the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.

and finally

The Barbican Conservatory – London

The Barbican Estate is a residential estate built during the 1960s and 70′s in the City of London, in an area once devastated by World War II bombings and is today heavily populated by the financial institutions, housing, shops and a theatre for the residents of the area.

Later in its life  the Barbican had the addition of a conservatory, which is the second biggest conservatory in London.  People in the areas see it as a tropical oasis in the middle of the city.  It is
home to birds, exotic fish and over 2,000 species of tropical plants and trees, it is an amazing place to spend time during the day.

If you can think of other wonders of glass in your area or around the country why not let the blog team know.  We would love to look at other inspirational conservatories that set your imagination going.

Hi Everyone

I had a very enjoyable day volunteering at the 3rd Brighton Marathon on 15th April. I started 12 Mini Mile races for the youngsters, which had a record number of entries. It was good to see so much enthusiasm shown by the 17 year-olds and under.  The weather was good and when the sun shines, it shows Brighton at its best.  The atmosphere was amazing with runners pushing themselves to the max and a record amount of money was raised for charities and good causes.

The clocks have changed and British summertime is upon us. At last I can do some races!  My training group travelled up to Watford for a mid-week Open Meeting. I did the 800m; it was a low key meeting so I got my friend Ben Tickner to pace for the first of the two laps. It felt a quick pace as I haven’t travelled that quickly for a while! I finished strongly in first in a time that was OK for the first race and it was quicker than I opened up with last year, so this is pleasing. The other objective of the race was to prepare for my favourite distance, the 1500m in Manchester ten days later. By running an 800m, which is significantly quicker than 1500m, it should make my 1500m pace feel more comfortable, so if anything the race was good training and was good for my fitness.

My coach and I travelled up to Manchester on Saturday afternoon and stayed the night as my race was on Sunday morning. The journey wasn’t too bad considering it was 254 miles away. We made good time and it only took 3.5 hours in Jon’s swift Jaguar sports car. It is a long way to travel for a race, but the idea is that there will be a very good standard of competitors, and races like this are few and far between, hence the distance that we had to travel. I was against a very strong field with some professional athletes. On paper going into the race I was sixth fastest, so I knew I would just have to relax and stick with the pace for as long as possible. It was good to be amongst these guys.

I am glad to say that it was well worth the effort. It was a quick pace from the start and I stuck with it and paced myself well. I came through strong in the last 300m to finish 3rd in the race, only 2 seconds off my personal best, which we were pleased with for this time of year. This time puts me top of the under 20 UK rankings in 2012.

It is a great release for me to have some races because life is difficult at the moment for me with a lot of work pressures as my exams start at the end of May, and I am cutting myself off from any kind of socialising, which means I am either training or studying, but at least I can see light at the end of the tunnel as I have some very exciting competitions to look forward to over the next few months.

In my next blog I will be able to tell you about my experiences of competing at the Olympic stadium-so watch this space!

Bye for now,

Charlie

In amazement, we all gasped and asked whether he had turned the engine on. He replied of course I have, but it is running on the charge from the battery. It then clicked that we were in an hybrid car, a Toyota Prius to be precise, silently taking us to our humble abodes.

Image sourced cars.com

Although the Toyota Prius doesn’t have the ‘cool’ reputation, after the short journey I experienced in the car, it seemed VERY cool! It was spacious and comfy, it ran smoothly and so so quietly, the only noise came from the wheels turning and the occasional ticking of the indicator. They may not look like a big, macho Mustang, but they are not an ugly car, instead they have been created to be aerodynamic and suitable for families.

The taxi driver explained to us about switching between the engine and the battery to power the car; it was a simple click of a button. There is no need to charge the car as it charges itself through the petrol engine and regenerative braking. Although it is still using petroleum, it holds a lot of charge within the battery, which is displayed on the impressive, flashy dashboard as a time remaining before the battery is dead.

The Toyota Prius T3, is built to reduce drag as much as possible to aid the petrol electric hybrid perform to its best, managing an impressive 72.4 miles per gallon. That is much more efficient than my car, and with petrol prices continuing to rise and with the country slipping back into recession, I think people will be looking to save money where they can. If they have the money to invest in a new car, then this may be ideal!

If you are looking to get a new car that can save money on petrol, reduce your carbon footprint and help save the planet, then this is a car worth investing in. There are other hybrid cars in the market though, so take a look at this blog to see what other options might have more of an appeal to you.

I was then told about some new car sharing schemes that are popping up across London. These schemes are very similar to the cycle scheme that proved a great success in London. One I had a look at was called Zipcar, where you join the company, obtaining a membership card. You can then reserve a car nearby using the website; there is a choice of Polos, 7 seaters, BMW’s and more (depending on which car is nearby).  In futuristic style, the car you reserved only opens when used with your ‘zip-card’ or mobile phone, magically unlocking the doors. You are then charged a small hourly rate, which includes fuel, insurance, congestion charge, tax, breakdown cover and 40 free miles each day. The only thing you have to do is make sure you return the car to where you got it!

Schemes like this are doing a great job at reducing the UK’s carbon footprint and it means there are less cars on the road, gallons of fuel is being saved, less miles are being driven and hundreds of pounds are saved by us, the users, year after year. No more fears about insurance, road tax, MOT’s, servicing and rising fuel costs, as they are all included in the price. The zipcar website claims you can save £300 a month by joining their scheme, which is a massive saving!

So, if you live in London and are looking to cut costs, maybe this is something worth looking into?

In conclusion, if I want to save money each year, I should investigate whether I should invest in a hybrid vehicle or see if there are any car sharing schemes in my local area? If there is money to be saved, then it is definitely worth looking into. If you drive a hybrid vehicle or an electric car, we would love to hear from you! Tell us about your experience with your car and how it has changed your life using the comment panel below.

I completed the marathon in 4hrs and 48 mins, which was slower than the time of 4 hrs and 30 mins that I had hoped for. I was on target until the 21st mile when I really began to suffer and started to feel the fact that I had only been able to complete 4 miles in training in the last month due to injury.

The atmosphere on the day was unbelievable, running round London high-fiving people I didn’t know and hearing them shout ‘Come on Martin’ really gave me a lift round the course. I was able to see my family at four different points around the course and each time this put a smile on my face and kept me going.

At the end I was so focused on getting to the finish line, that I didn’t consciously notice Buckingham Palace as I turned into the Mall for the last 285 yards!

After the race, I went to the Dreams Come True after party for a well earned beer and massage.

Overall it was an amazing day. I have been overwhelmed by the support I have received and the money I have been able to raise for this fantastic cause.

Would I do it again? Definitely!

Congratulations to Martin for a great run!

In April, a couple of our employees ran in the London Marathon back in April, to help raise money for Dreams Come True and Crohns & Colitis UK charity, and during Sports Relief, our Services Co-ordinator, Nick Harding and many others joined in the fun of participating in the Sports Relief Mile!

This time round, Anglian’s Norwich Telecan Manager, Kendall Jarrett, and 10 of her friends will be getting involved with running a 5k race to help raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital charity, Race For The Kids.

Here is what she had to say for the big event!

Me and 10 of my close friends will be running the race for the children, for the first time in aid of charity and will be a 5k race! We have never done anything like this before and are just hoping for the best on the day.

It’s for the kids in Great Ormond Street Hospital and will be a fun run to get people excited. So many teams will be running in pyjamas, funny outfits on scooters and including us in outrageous wigs!

The reason why we are running is because one of our closest friends went to her 20 week scan to find out her unborn daughter, Felicity, was diagnosed with coarctation of the aorta and slight left ventricle disease. This meant that without reconstruction of her aorta and left ventricle, Felicity would have an undersized heart and her life would be shortened significantly.

Luckily, our friend was looked after throughout her pregnancy by a Foetal Specialist who continuously monitored her heart.

When Felicity was born, she spent one day in Intensive Care and the following day had open heart surgery. The staff at Great Ormond Street were continuously supportive to our friend and her partner, especially with providing them accommodation and food vouchers for the 2 weeks that they were there.

Unfortunately the operation was unsuccessful with 5 month old Felicity having to undergo another open heart surgery.

So with this, we felt this was a great opportunity to give back to a charity which has done so much for someone who is close to our hearts and her family.

We will be running in the race which will take place at Battersea Park in old London town on the Sunday 24th June.

Thank you for your support from Kendall and the Felicity Team!

Good Luck to all the girls running on the day and our thoughts and prayers are with Felicity and her family, and hope she makes a full recovery!