Open letter to the PM: Championing the glazing industry

George Lewis, Editor at PiGs AKA People in Glazing Society, has sent an open letter to the Prime Minister Andy Burnham, championing the glazing sector and the ability of the PiGs networking events in bringing together the industry.

“Good afternoon Prime Minister, good afternoon Lucy

My name is George Lewis, an Editor for an online media outlet and networking event called PiGs AKA People in Glazing Society.

PiGs has been running for 22 years, bringing together the UK glazing industry in a relaxed environment (normally in a bar!), across the country, to get together, network, socialise and enjoy each other’s company in what is a very relationship-focused industry.

My reason for sending this message is to invite you to the last networking event of 2026, in somewhere you will both know well, Manchester, on Thursday, 12 November from 5pm.

Manchester is one of, if not our most important event of the year, and normally brings together around 250-300 people from across the glazing supply chain, from up and down the country.

Andy, I recently watched your This Morning interview earlier this week where you said some of your best ideas came from getting out and speaking to people. I immediately thought of PiGs.

I think this is why our Manchester event would be a perfect opportunity for you to meet people from all walks of life, some starting their career off in our industry, and some that have been in it 20, 30, 40, or even 50 years.

The glazing sector has been, in my opinion, criminally undervalued as part of the wider construction sector, but let me ask you this: how many windows and doors have you walked past in a day at Number 10, or Number 10 North? Bet it’s quite a lot!

Many likely manufactured by at least some of the people who will be in the room together on 12 November.

You also mentioned about reforms to school education, to bring more technical and vocational qualifications into the minds of school children, something that has been unanimously greeted with positivity, as we, like much of the construction industry, has been struggling with a people shortage for many years now.

So, to round off my message to you, it would be our honour to host you, in your local city, on 12 November, in a relaxed environment, with a pint of your favourite, and come at witness first-hand how great our industry is, and who knows, you might just get one of those ideas that you might just take away from the evening.

At PiGs we celebrate the relationship and successes in our industry. You can see how wonderful our industry is here on our website, and first hand from some of the amazing people that have been through good times and bad, on the industry podcast we do here, aptly named Two PiGs in a Pod.

I’m sorry this has gone way past the 1,000 character limit set to send messages, but I felt this needed more of a back story than just an invite to your usual ribbon cutting.

Congratulations on your first few days in office, and best of luck for the future, both as PM and as an Everton fan for the season ahead.

Best regards,

George Lewis”

Open letter to the PM