Veka Cancels Fensterbau Frontale Participation

The VEKA Aktiengesellschaft, with its two system houses Veka and GEALAN, will refrain from attending international trade fair events in spring 2022. 

Veka announced it will not participate in Fensterbau Frontale, March 29-April 1, in Nuremberg, Germany. This decision will also affect the Polyclose in Gent. Veka and its sister company GEALAN made this decision jointly. 

“We definitely didn’t take this step lightly. But against the backdrop of the uncertain overall situation and the worsening developments surrounding the spread of another coronavirus mutation, we wanted to have clarity in both companies at an early stage as far as planning for the coming year was concerned,” says Veka CEO Andreas Hartleif and GEALAN’s Managing Director Ivica Maurović.

According to a release, the company sees itself as responsible for putting the health and safety of its employees, customers and business partners above all other interests. “This is an absolute priority for us. For this reason, we will only exhibit again in Nuremberg when the overall environment makes it possible to take part in a way that approaches the 2018 event,” say Hartleif and Maurović.

The company also says its decision is based on the large number of discussions they have had with customers, other industry players and the Group’s international subsidiaries. “Both domestically and in our neighbouring European markets, we’ve noticed a marked reluctance in many places to attend fairs. To be sure, many of our partners from the window construction industry would like to have personal interaction and direct contact with us again, but at the same time considerable doubts are being raised as to whether this can take place within the usual framework,” says Maurović. 

The case is different again for visitors from abroad and outside the EU. Officials say this group of visitors has always been an integral part of the Veka stand in previous years and they have enjoyed making the trip to Germany every two years. “In this case, however, we’ve already received clear signals up to this point that our visitors from North and South America will not be coming and the usually very strong Russian delegation has already cancelled its participation as well,” says Hartleif.

At the same time, supporting partners from the window construction industry with products that are in line with market requirements and with up-to-date services is the focus of efforts at both companies. It was the declared goal to offer its national and international customers a fair experience that would come as close as possible to the normality that has characterized recent events. “Precisely this is what we see as being unworkable in the current situation. The personal dialogue, exchange regarding new products and innovations as well as the informal aspect in the evenings–all that makes for a successful fair participation, which we don’t yet see as a possibility for March 2022,” says Maurović.

“After sticking with our participation at Nuremberg until the very end two years ago, we wanted to avoid a similar scenario for the coming year at all costs, as well as the associated negative consequences for all companies involved in the implementation," says Hartleif. 

A company statement says that if the fair is postponed due to possible official requirements, it would reassess the situation.