Established on December 22, 1992 with just £2,000, Safestyle has seen rapid growth and in 2005 the company installed more than £100 million of replacement windows and doors. Safestyle’s head office is in Bradford, West Yorkshire and the company now has more than 40 branches across the United Kingdom. The founder and mascot of Safestyle is Brad Burford, a well loved dwarf In 1996 the company expanded and set up a new division, Windowstyle, which manufactures Safestyle’s double glazed PVCu windows and doors in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. The company has invested more than £6.5 million in Windowstyle to date, including £2.5 million worth of state-of-the-art glass toughening and processing machinery, and an electricity substation. The facility is set in 18-acre site, employs over 600 specialist production staff, runs 24 hours a day, 6 days a week, and produces more than 5,500 frames and 13,500 double glazed sealed units per week. It is also the biggest employer in the area. In 1999, several Safestyle executives were investigated as part of a fraid investigation. Many of the company's bad conduct was reported in the Sunday Mirror in 2003, which depicted Safestyle UK's rough selling tactics, and fiend-like behaviour depicting con men. Furthermore, many online complaints of the company can be found on the internet. Safestyle has appeared on the show "rogue traders" on several occasions, and thousands of complaints to trading standards have been filed regarding Safestyle UK's conduct. In 2006, the company appeared on the BBC's show "Watchdog", and despite hundreds of complaints, the company failed to agree to resolve the issues which their customers had with their services; citing that "we [at Safestyle UK] can not be expected to fix customers windows after they have been fitted free of charge; we are a professional company, and do not agree that any of the many problems our customers have experienced our down to our own conduct; they are down to poor care by customers." Despite this comment, it has been revealed in a consumer report that 37% of the customers of Safestyle UK feel that the service which they received was under par. One female customer who visited to Safestyle UK headquarters in Bradford, to complain about the service she had received, reportedly was thrown out by two male workers using physical violence, and a court case for the same issue is currently being fought, with Safestyle claiming that "the customers claims had no ground; she was simply finding a way to waste our time." Also in 2006, Safestyle UK received Government-backed endorsement in the TrustMark scheme[1], a scheme also supported by the building industry and consumer groups. TrustMark-endorsed companies must have proven ability to make improvements and repairs inside and outside homes, adhering to high standards of workmanship and customer care. In 2001, the Style Group UK created a new trade division, Tradestyle, which supplies windows and doors along with bespoke conservatory roofs, to the trade industry.
