The company’s managing director Russell Ager made the discovery on a recent visit to Southend when on a bracing stroll to the end of the world’s longest pier.

Crittall windows were installed in the pier’s narrow gauge railway station in 2009. “The mile walk out to sea was tinged with trepidation,” admits Russell. “What condition will the windows be in?”

But there was no cause for concern. “Thirteen years into their service life and the windows look incredible, as good as the day they were installed,” he says.

Coping with the hostile salty environment and a continuous battering by easterly winds proved no problem for the galvanised, powder-coated windows. The powder coating is a dual-coat system featuring a primer and topcoat specially formulated to perform in aggressive environments by Akzo Nobel and applied by Crittall’s expert in-house coating team.