As we mentioned in our last edition, we are excited to be exhibiting at this year's Materials & Finishes Show, the UK’s trade show for the manufacturing and joinery industries, held at the NEC on 19-22 May.

Our stand design is now at its final stage and is currently in production, so we turn our focus to our live demonstration area. Having recently achieved the enviable FIRA Gold accreditation for our Varlaq Hydro paint, we wanted to let people see its superior finish and durability for themselves, inviting visitors to carry out their own scratch test on a painted sample, which they can then take away.

If you’re visiting the show, please drop by for a chat, we’re at stand F40… it would be great to see you!

Remember to take a break…

April is stress awareness month.

As many of you may be aware stress shows up differently for everyone, making it tough to give a ‘checklist’ of what to look for. However, since stress has negative effects, it will usually show in some way, even if it seems small.

Stress looks for the weakest point and then exaggerates it. For example, if you struggle with patience around others, this is likely to be exaggerated when under stress, making you snappier than you would normally be – these are the kind of signs you can look for in others too.

If you’ve noticed negative changes in someone you work with, or if you’re feeling under pressure yourself, please don’t leave it. If it’s yourself who’s struggling, mention it to someone else at home or at work, there are people who care and are open to trying to help.

If your concern is for someone else, either open a conversation with them if you feel comfortable or mention it to a colleague who you think maybe has a different relationship with them. Nobody needs to feel alone or under pressure.

Here at Kortec, we encourage our team to speak to our Wellbeing Champions, to offer non-judgemental support when needed, sometimes just verbalising your concerns or worries to someone can be a huge step forward.

Run Matt, Run…

In our last newsletter we reported on Matt's upcoming challenge to run the Manchester Marathon... we’re pleased to say he made it, in an amazing time of 3 hours, 37 minutes!

Matt said he actually ‘enjoyed’ the day, although presumably not the blisters he’s been struggling with in the two weeks since as he hobbles around the office. Matt would like to thank everyone who wished him well and also those who donated to his chosen charity, raising over £1000 for Charity Link, Leicester.

Heroes of the Month

Congratulations to all our Heroes of March!

We are pleased to announce that March’s top scorers against our values (Respect, Innovation, Dynamism and Expertise) were: