Letters

YOUR LETTERS

WHAT’S YOUR OPINION?

Feel free to get in touch with your views on the industry, legislation, government, or even the newspaper.

Contact Chris:

chris@glassnews.co.uk

ENERGY PRICES AND THEIR IMPACT ON RETAIL

Dear Chris,

‘22% of homeowners intend to make home improvements in the next 12-months’*. That’s up from 16% in the final quarter of 2021.

Why are more people intending to make home improvements now? Well, it’s because they’re concerned about rising energy costs, and want to insulate themselves, literally and financially, from the worst of the storm.

The astronomical increases that we have seen in energy prices, the £2,000 average annual energy bill, that came in with the lifting of the energy price cap in April, the maybe £2,350 bill that we may see from October – they are a problem and an opportunity at once.

Homeowners are feeling the pinch, and many are putting away their wallets. Others, those with more resource - well they have never had a better reason to make energy efficient home improvements to their properties. For this reason, although I don’t doubt for a moment that things have become tighter, there are still considerable areas of opportunity – and our customers and their customers are exploiting them. Our sales of foiled product are up again in the first half of this year, making up more than 60% of all product we supply. Sales of our flush window are also up. It demonstrates that premium products - products which deliver on appearance, on energy efficiency and thermal performance - are still moving and at volume.

That’s despite forecasts of inflation of 11% before the year is out and record lows in consumer confidence!

The market going forward to the end of the year is about the ‘haves’ and unfortunately, the ‘have nots’. Inflation does not impact everyone equally because lower income households spend a greater proportion of their income on housing food and the basics. Those things are going up for everyone but in percentage terms, those increases are less significant for those households with a higher income. The economics are brutal for poorer households. Those with the cash still have it to spend and energy prices give them a reason to do so.

Although we need to monitor things carefully, a readjustment of the market of around 20% now, shouldn’t be a surprise. It was inevitable post-COVID and as I have stated, people who had furlough cash and the capacity to spend last year, don’t have it now.

Many others do, and it is those who we should target with a premium and colour driven offer, promoting the thermal performance of our products and the contribution that they can make to making their homes warmer and more secure.

Rob McGlennon

Managing Director, Deceuninck

WORK SMART FOR IMPROVED PROFITS

Dear Editor,

In an open letter, Nathan Court, Sales Director at Sternfenster, asks other fabricators if now is the right time to re-evaluate their business structure, and to consider partnering with companies who can make them more profitable.

Some people say that we are very good at talking ourselves into a recession, which I think is unfortunately true. Too many people are happy to look for the challenges rather than the opportunities. And as the market starts to cool after what has got to be one of the most difficult three years of trading, we are hearing the usual doom-laden tales of woe, about how small-to-mediumsized fabricators are going to fail because high input costs and reduced demand are squeezing profits and threatening cash flow Sadly, the only effect this has is to cause panic, and for companies to react counter-intuitively – ie, they under-invest, and overstretch themselves. In fact, we are already starting to see that happen. Let’s not sugar-coat the situation. We are in for a tough few months. Some forecasters are saying inflation could peak at 13.3% in October this year, which has been driven in the most part by high fuel prices, high food prices, and the ludicrous jump in the cost of energy – all the things that eat into households’ budgets and prevent spending elsewhere, including home improvement. Taken at face value, and the situation doesn’t look that rosy, but don’t forget that not all households are affected equally by the squeeze on the cost of living. Many homeowners will be irritated at most by rising costs, and will have money for those refurbishment projects dreamt up during lockdown and beyond. According to the ONS, half of all home improvement spending between 2011 and 2020 came from the upper fifth households by income – these are the people we should be targeting. At Sternfenster, we have invested in the machinery, infrastructure and product design to meet the increased demand for high-end, high-margin products. We see sustained activity at the top end of the market until at least the end of the year, and we are geared to make the most of those opportunities. We’ve saw this coming some years back. For example, we were the first UK fabricator to own a Graf Welder, and we now have three at our facility in Lincoln. They can produce a near invisible weld on our foiled StyleLine sashes, and the flush sash option accounts for approximately 40% of all our PVC business. The demand for colour, too, continues to grow, which we can comfortably meet thanks to continued investment.

Other fabricators are not so lucky. They are unable to make the most of those profitable product lines because the standard white casements they produce, while at volume, don’t leave a great deal of wriggle room as input costs rise.

At Sternfenster, we have the capacity to take that high volume work off your hands, so that you can concentrate on the more profitable niche products such has foiled flush sash casements. You will still be making a decent profit on those frames, but you don’t have to worry about investment in machinery, or about the continued labour shortage. And you will benefit from the exceptional service offer that we have built for our installation customers. Specifically, we are seen as a single point of contact for aluminium, PVC-U, and glass, and we provide a broad digital marketing support offer, which includes a virtual showroom, production transparency, and business advice.

Despite the negative words of some, there are still opportunities, and we can help you make the most of them.

Nathan Court

Sales Director, Sternfenster

Dear Editor,

I’ve seen the recent appeal in the press from several large fabricators for suppliers to halt the current round of price increases, rather than pushing them down the supply chain at a time when the cost-of-living crisis is dampening consumer demand.

As a supplier MD, I’m hugely sympathetic to that position and applaud the massive efforts that so many fabricators have already made to absorb many of the price rises they’ve faced over past 18 months, either by reducing margins or improving efficiencies – or both.

However, I would point out that the vast majority of suppliers have been doing exactly the same. Mila spent more than £1.1m on air freight last year alone to keep customers supplied during the boom – and none of that was passed on. We’ve absorbed numerous increases in raw material costs and big currency losses in the value of the £ against the USD since the start of Covid and our own margins have been eroded considerably as a result.

Like most importers, we obviously had to impose a surcharge on orders as our freight costs rocketed, but we were completely transparent about this with customers, kept it as low as we could and reduced it as soon as costs started to fall.

For Mila, and I’m sure for the vast majority of suppliers, imposing any kind of price rise or surcharge is always going to be very much a last resort. None of us wants to lose business, make our customers less competitive or undermine relationships that have been built up over many years. However, for this industry to be able to respond to the challenges it faces in both the short and medium term, suppliers at the top of the market do have to be in a strong enough position to be able to invest in the kinds of products and process innovations which will stimulate demand and help those at the sharp end to win new business.

It’s easy to assume that suppliers can just shoulder the full burden of rising costs, but we are all so interdependent now that that’s simply not realistic. Whatever point you’re at in the supply chain, you need a stable, financially secure supplier who won’t let you down. It’s probably worth pointing out here that Mila has a small number of very large customers who sign annual supply agreements with us. These carry with them guarantees on how both rising costs and savings on currency fluctuations will be shared – for the benefit of both parties. These obviously involve a level of commitment that, until now, many fabricators have been reluctant to make. After the turmoil of recent years though, I’m expecting interest to increase.

DIVIDE AND CONQUER WITH DOOR SUPERSTORE

Although open plan living continues to be popular, the increase in people working from home has led to a growing desire to create separate areas for work and relaxation – and room divider doors are providing the perfect solution.

Leading online builders merchant Door Superstore has seen a surge in interest for its bi-folding, sliding and swing door room divider frames and doorsets as more people look to improve rather than move. By allowing rooms to be opened up or closed off as needed, room dividers offer a flexible and cost-effective solution to zoning areas of their homes without compromising on light or space. Ideal for home improvement projects or for creating more clearly defining spaces such as home offices, playrooms, and kitchen and dining areas, room dividers allow an existing room to have a dual purpose. Door Superstore’s range of glazed timber internal room dividing doors not only allow the flow of natural light but also make it easier to keep an eye on children or pets whilst creating more clearly defined and zoned spaces. Room dividing doors are also a popular choice for screening off conservatories to contribute to the prevention of heat loss in the winter or overheating in the summer. A truly flexible solution, divider doors can be fitted with obscure glass to give an extra level of privacy without blocking out any daylight and choosing solid core doors can also bring some sound-proofing benefits – perfect for home office schemes.

Door Superstore’s range caters for both projects, and budgets, large and small, with the inclusion of stylish fully finished oak and walnut dividing doors that can installed quickly, or white primed and unfinished oak options that can be painted, waxed or varnished to suit a specific interior design scheme. Offering the most competitive prices, fast delivery and the support of customer sales advisors that can provide both product information and practical advice, Door Superstore can supply systems from leading manufacturers such as Deanta and LPD doors. Offering the complete package for all new and replacement door projects, Door Superstore’s product offering also includes a full range of internal and external doors, including fire rated options, and all required hard wear and accessories.

To find out more about Door Superstore’s product range and latest special offers, please visitwww.doorsuperstore.co.uk

INAGAS PRODUCTION HAS MOVED TO THE HEART OF THE UK’S TECHNICAL INNOVATION POWERHOUSE, THE CULHAM SCIENCE CENTRE IN OXFORDSHIRE

Inagas, industry leaders for manual gas filling and testing equipment for the IGU market has announced its production partner, John Ellison Electronics Limited (je2) has relocated to the heart of the UK’s science and tech powerhouse, the Culham Science Centre in Oxfordshire. Fitting with Inagas’ strategy of innovation in electronics and technology in gas filling, the Culham Science Centre is a hot spot for enterprise and the home to the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, a global leader in fusion energy research.

Inagas Director, Chris Kemp comments: ”The opportunity to relocate production to the Culham Science Centre fulfilled our demand for a larger, better equipped facility to manufacture the UK’s most comprehensive range of highperformance manual gas filling machinery. “Now that je2 is settled into the new laboratory and manufacturing space, production is underway to meet increased customer demand across the globe. We’re also working on some exciting new innovations and product enhancements, available later this year. Personally, I’m excited to be out and about visiting customers more – there’s nothing like talking to IGU companies first-hand, to promote and demonstrate our products and explain the benefits, but also to understand what issues and challenges different companies are facing in the current market..” John Ellison of Inagas’ tech development partner je2 adds: “We’re delighted to continue our long-standing relationship with Inagas in the new facility, which gives us so much scope for product development and innovation. The world of electronics is fast-moving so being where we are now, means we’re at the heart of global cutting-edge trends and solutions that we can develop and bring to the IGU manufacturer sector.”

Chris concludes: “The 2022 relocation means that we can continue to build on Inagas’ trusted reputation to deliver reliable gas filling and testing equipment across the globe, offering customers a range of gas fillers to suit all levels of production. We will also continue to provide customers with specialist advice and practical solutions for gas filling with Argon, Krypton and Xenon, for any type of spacer bar and sealant combination. With more exciting news on the horizon, watch this space!” For more information, visit: www.Inagas.com.