Getting to know…George Lewis

Who am I? It’s a question that more than a few people have asked throughout my career. Well first is the easy bit. I’m George.

I’ve been tasked with introducing (or reintroducing) myself, and why I have joined the wonderful world of the People in Glazing Society, or more commonly known as PiGs.

I’ve worked as both an Assistant Editor and an Editor with the construction industry for roughly six years, mainly in the glazing sector but I’ve also worked on magazines within the glass manufacturing sector and the building products sector as well.

I’ve got to be honest and say before I started my publishing career, I didn’t even realise there were magazines within these sorts of sectors. But boy I’m glad there was and still is. Not long after I started in my first editorial role within the construction sector, I realised that this is a sector I wanted to find out more about, and more importantly, write about.

Throughout my career, I have found the most pleasure in talking to people within this fabulous industry throughout the supply chain, from manufacturers, architects, fabricators and installers, and everything in between, and trying to give them a voice through my writing and building relationships that continue to grow. Big companies, small companies, CEOs, Managing Directors, Sales Managers and apprentices to name but a few. I’ve spoken to them all.

I love hearing their stories of how they got into the industry themselves, what their companies are trying to do, and more importantly, what the future potentially holds for them. Just everything that makes them who they are, both as an individual and as part of their company. But I always try and go beyond that, find out what really makes them tick. Everyone has a story, and I want to hear them.

I guess you could say I like the people in glazing. So, when the opportunity came up to join PiGs and join Sarah and lead the next stage of the PiGs plan as Editor, I couldn’t turn my nose (or should that be snout?) up at it.

PiGs is how I think and talk about the industry when speaking to people from outside glazing. A very sociable, friendly sector where employees of rival companies could be good friends, helping each other out whenever needed, no questions asked and genuinely just enjoying each other’s company.

And I guess that’s where I fit in. I want to be the facilitator to really shine a really bright, positive light on this sector by any means I can, using my previous editorial experiences to really make PiGs the epicentre of the glazing community.

I’ve worked in glazing for a good few year’s now, and see nearly every day how skilled, adaptable and vibrant this sector is, and I think I’ve seen that from a pretty unique viewpoint being in an editorial role, really seeing how good it is, and more importantly, how good it can be.

They say once you’re in the glazing sector you never leave, and whilst that isn’t quite true to me (maybe I should have listened to that advice and never left!), I am back and that owes a lot to the people of this industry.

What will I be doing in this role? Well, I want to hear your success stories, I want to hear how someone is celebrating a milestone at your company, I want to hear how you are going about professionalising the sector, I want to hear about you running a marathon or climbing a mountain for charity. Basically, I want to hear from as many of you as much as I possibly can.

My aim as Editor is to really emphasise the ‘P’ in PiGs. But I can’t do that without you.

I’m looking forward to reacquainting with old friends, making a whole host of new ones, and hopefully really taking PiGs to the next level.

Let’s make 2024 the year of the pig!

George