We are delighted to announce that SWIFIX is the recipient of our Building Products & Services Innovation Award.
Here at Building & Construction Review, we have been following the accelerated growth of EWI expert and multi-industry award winner: SWIFIX, which saw a 200% growth last year and is already on course to more than double that this year. The reason for the exponential growth is the ingenuity and business savviness of Director, Paul Brown. With expert knowledge of the EWI sector at large, specifically within the housing sector, the company has sized on a gap in the market and designed and produced a range of fittings, laser-focused for refitting and installing lightweight and heavyweight items through EWI systems. These innovative fixings are approved and specified by many EWI system designs and clients across the UK and can be used during or after system installation.
With numerous prestigious awards now under its belt, SWIFIX has most recently partnered with fibre-only operator, CityFibre to roll out country-wide broadband with five of its leading installation products, from fibre broadband cables, catenary wires to utility boxes.
“The devil is in the detail and we now have other operators lining up to use our industry-specified products, which come highly recommended by systems designers, architects through to the Ministry of Defence.
“Beyond that, we are working with European companies that require specific applications across the Netherlands, Poland and Germany, such as external flagpoles. Business is booming as our products are unique on the EWI market,” explained Paul.
Established in 2016, SWIFIX came up with a timber pattress alternative, which have been rendered poor practice by many in the industry, including the Chief Construction Adviser (CCA): Peter Hansford in his report to the UK Government. The traditional method of fixing items, such as satellite dishes, fence/gate posts, external pipe work, lights/alarms, canopies, utility boxes, through to washing lines and hanging baskets has been through timber pattresses, spreading the load over a larger area of surface wall. This however contributed to cold spots, thermal bridging and even impacted on insultation qualities, alongside the natural wear and tear of the timber itself.
With the passing of PAS 2030 in 2017 and PAS 2035 subsequently in 2019, the industry has drastically reconsidered the traditional usage of timber pattresses, with SWIFIX fixings now being routinely used instead as Product of Choice by many EWI Systems Designers.
The entire SWIFIX range is PAS 2035-compliant for retrofitting, modular housing sector and futureproofed for maintenance provision, meeting robust requirements to mitigate against insulation compression, with its watertight seal, as outlined below:
- SWIFIX single universal fitting: Secures, downpipes, vent pipes, canopies, lights, alarms, and more
- SWIFIX satellite fitting kit: Designed for refitting a standardised satellite dish through EWI.
- SWIFIX Pipe connector: Securing small to large pipes and cables, giving a robust, watertight seal.
- SWIFIX connection point fitting: Ideal for attaching cables, hanging baskets, trellis utility cables and washing lines.
- SWIFIX tap fitting: Fits an external tap through EWI, ensuring a watertight seal.
- Introducing new additions to the SWIFIX family: A range designed for fixture to render for small lightweight cables, through to thermally effective solutions for air source heat pumps and air conditioning currently being developed.
“Our solutions robustly secure external furniture through EWI, from satellite dishes, canopies, signage to cables, protecting guarantees and warranties and with full-PAS 2035 quality-compliance for added assurance.”
“We routinely work with Architects, Local Authorities (LAs) to major contractors and system designers providing innovative, industrial solutions for securing external wall furniture, through insulation and cladding, across a range of properties, including retrofit, new build, and the off-site modular sectors,” explained Paul.
The last time we interviewed Paul, he was working with Exeter College as a consultant on the curriculum design and delivery of retrofit boot-camps and upskilling courses for the insulation sector.
This work has continued as a key member of GCAP (Green Construction Advisory Panel): a group of individuals set up in the South West from across industry; including installers, suppliers, landlords and merchants. The mission of GCAP is to bring sustainable training and education opportunities to the housing and construction sectors.
A range of courses has been designed and accredited from identifying the skills required for upskilling in the Green Sector, such as retrofit. These courses have now been approved for delivery at multiple training centres across the UK and received funding to support their delivery. GCAP was awarded the School/Educational Winner in the Exeter Sustainability Awards 2022 and is helping meet net-zero targets in construction, and now has a growing national presence with GCAPs popping up all over the UK.
The courses developed for GCAP are aimed at existing installers demonstrating competence in their craft, and are now available nationally through a network of training providers and provides a hybrid content of theory and practical learning, covering insulation measures PAS2030/PAS2035 regulations and much more.
Paul says, “Working in the education sector for the last two years has been extremely rewarding, and to be part of GCAP on a national scale and to influence government on the best way to develop, upskill and train the green skills required to improve the energy efficiency of our homes is very exciting.”
“As SWIFIX seems to now be on a journey to achieve our mission “to redefine best practice” I now see the next opportunity in this arena by combining my knowledge and experience on to my next venture supporting this sector I am passionate about. I look forward to continuing fruitful work in these areas as a trained teacher and assessor.”
We are delighted that SWIFIX has cornered the EWI market and the GCAP courses are the cherry on top of what has been a very successful couple of years for SWIFIX.
With the current focus on the circular economy and meeting the UK Government’s 2050 net-zero targets, it is an added bonus that the SWIFIX fixing range are made from partially-recycled plastics, with all parts and packaging fully recyclable, reducing the need for landfill.
The multi-award-winning SWIFIX external wall fixings are available via wholesale merchants and come highly recommended by the UK’s leading systems manufacturers.
T 01884 560477
info@swifix.co.uk
www.swifix.co.uk