The National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC) has officially welcomed DPM Industrial Roofing as its 1,000th company member after inviting the company to visit its headquarters and celebrating with lunch at a London landmark.
The Stoke-on-Trent company, which specialises in industrial roof and wall cladding, was invited to Roofing House on October 27 to meet the NFRC’s team, including both the outgoing chief executive Ray Horwood and his replacement James Talman, before being hosted at the Shard.
Mr. Horwood said: “This is an important day for the NFRC. Trade associations exist because people give their time all for the benefit of companies and we’re really pleased.
“We actually have 1,100 members if you count branches but this was it for companies. We’ve been on 990-something for a little while so we sat in trepidation, wondering where the 1,000th company would come from because 123 years, 1,000 companies is really important.”
He added: “Of course the next 1,000 will come a lot quicker for the next chief executive [James Talman, who takes over in January 2016] than 123 years.”
Steve Wallace, director of DPM Industrial Roofing, said: “[Joining the NFRC] was something that was important to us. It’s a valuable thing to have because you’ve got the support, advice and also it looks good on us. Your customers want to see that you’re accredited and you’re not just some cowboy.
“It will start to change [how we tender for jobs] because it means we can attack bigger customers and bigger companies that will only employ people with certain qualifications, this being one of them.”
He added: “In terms of technical support and things like that, its golden really.”
The NFRC has seen a steady increase in membership over the past several years, averaging an increase of around 3% every year since 2009 – with the exception of one year during the recession – when it froze the price of subscription, focusing instead on boosting membership to increase revenue.
As part of its celebrations, the NFRC is also looking to recognise its longest serving members. Ray Horwood said: “Part of the celebration is of course celebrating one company, but we also want to recognise those companies that have supported us for a long time, so what we’re looking for is the longest serving members in each region.”
