Company leadership at VEKA Aktiengesellschaft, with its two system houses VEKA and GEALAN, has announced the company will not attend international trade fair events in spring 2022.

The decision means the companies will not be attending Fensterbau Frontale 2022, scheduled for the end of March. A press release about the decision indicates VEKA and GEALAN made this decision jointly, after intensive internal discussions and after weighing up all the pros and cons.

“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,” explained VEKA Aktiengesellschaft CEO Andreas Hartleif and GEALAN’s managing director Ivica Maurović.

The company sees itself as responsible for putting the health and safety of its employees, customers and business partners above all other interests, according to the press release.

“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,” stressed Hartleif and Maurović.

The decision, the company says, is also based on the large number of discussions company leadership has 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,” Maurović continues.

The case is different again for visitors from abroad and outside the EU, a group of visitors which has always been an integral part of the GEALAN and VEKA booths in previous 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,” explains 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. GEALAN’s stated aim was 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,” adds Maurović.

Both system houses see their joint decision as the only right step at this point in time.

“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,” explains Hartleif.

It’s also a clear signal that the health and safety of its employees and partners is being placed above all other interests, because, Maurović concludes, no concept for large events that has been tested in the past can offer 100% safety.

Leaders say they would reassess “should the option arise to postpone the fair to a later date due to potential official guidelines.”