With regret we announce that we have discontinued RENEW, the initiative we set up to combat the effects of replacement window market saturation. Although the scheme was attracting support from those most immediately affected - fabricators and installers - we did not get the necessary support from window systems and hardware companies. And without them the initiative was not viable.

The scheme was not conceived through gut instinct alone, however. In July 2002, Michael Rigby Associates organised a seminar, sponsored by Status Systems, to address the issue of saturation. The seminar featured lectures by key industry figures and several window systems and hardware companies attended. It gave us a valuable opportunity to collect and analyse the opinions of the delegates who attended. At the end of the seminar people said that the matter is both important and urgent but no one company could achieve a solution on its own. It was also agreed that it was outside the scope of the GGF or BPF. The question was asked who would do anything about it? No one put his or her hand up, so MRA stepped in to try to get the ball rolling. Almost everyone we spoke to said 'great idea'.

What they said made interesting reading to say the least:

• 36% of delegates thought the replacement market is already suffering from saturation. 60% thought it will impact in the next 1-5 years.

• 95% of delegates said the need to come up with genuine innovations to keep the industry alive is urgent or very urgent.

• 83% thought that solutions are more likely to come from working in partnership with others rather than in traditional isolation.

Largely web based, Renew was a members only initiative driven by the replacement window industry for the industry. It was a unique opportunity to develop a structure to encourage debate and discover and implement solutions to turn an imminent threat into opportunities for future growth. Members were asked for a nominal joining fee to cover administration - this was a genuine attempt to assist the industry and not an opportunity for us to retire to the Caribbean.

A scheme such as Renew could only succeed with the active participation and leadership of those companies at the top of the chain - the hardware and system companies that feed the industry. When we launched Renew we used the attached cartoon of the Ostrich as a joke, suggesting the industry should take its head out of the sand. Sadly this image is now an epitaph for the scheme. With some companies already becoming casualties of saturation, let's hope it's not an epitaph for an industry too busy with today and too short sighted to think about the future. The problem will not go away or solve itself. MRA can only be facilitators. It was not 'our' scheme. It was an initiative for the industry by the industry. It has cost us a lot of time and money. Let us hope not taking up the challenge doesn't cost the industry a whole lot more.

Having said this, our thanks go to Renew sponsors Status Systems, Siegenia Frank UK and MasterFrame for their support and enthusiasm. We would also like to express our appreciation to all members of Renew for their support. They serve to reinforce our belief that, sooner or later, a scheme such as Renew will be both necessary and inevitable.

We are refunding all joining and sponsorship fees in full.

We will not stop talking about the problem. How can you ignore a train rushing full steam towards you?