Clearview National July 2017 - Issue 188 | Page 14

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Second replacements and shift
in home ownership redefining
the window and door industry
» » TOUGHER SECOND-TIME
replacement sells and the shift
away from home ownership, are
driving long-term change in the
window and door industry. The
analysis was delivered by Robert
Palmer, Palmer Market Research
during last month’s FIT Show
seminar programme.
He said first time window and
door replacements had dropped
from 80% in 2000 to less than
30% in 2015, with ‘replacement
of replacement’ installations
now accounting for 70% of all
installations. He argued that this
was driving increased focus on
aesthetics, “Homeowners want
something that is tangibly different
and the appearance of windows
is increasingly important in the
market”, he said. “That in turn is
driving innovation in the industry
and the shift to premium finishes
and foils in retail markets.
“While there will always be a
place for standard budget white
PVCu, there has been definite
shift in consumer expectation.
The industry has responded with
foils and premium finishes as well
as the very substantial growth
that we’re seeing in demand for
aluminium.”
To this end he forecast that
aluminium is on course to reach
a 17-year high by 2020, topping
220,000 frames by the end of the
three-year period. This he said
would be delivered by significant
growth in the bi-fold market,
which he forecast was set for
growth of 30% through to 2020
in all material types to 55,000
door sets. Of these, he predicted
that aluminium would take
the lion’s share of the market at
35,000 units.
Palmer cited ‘exponential
growth’ in the solid roof
conservatory market as a
second key area of opportunity.
According to The Window,
Door and Conservatory Markets
in Housing in Great Britain, (October 2016) the market for
replacement conservatory roofs
was up 62% in 2015 to 11,200
installations and is forecast for
continuing growth through to
2020.
He also forecast continuing if
steady growth in the composite
door market, which he said would
increase to around 850,000 door
sets per annum in the next three
years.
Palmer said that the long-term
decline in homeownership was
also driv ing a long-term change
in the market. “The private rental
market tends to be again, that
little bit tougher and price driven.
There are however incentives to
improve the energy efficiency of
their properties.”
worked closely with Listers IT
Team so that the final phase
of the scheme was launched
in May, integrating all their
previous systems into just two
customised packages, making
their operations streamlined
and simpler to use. Listers also
now have greater visibility of
information and a platform
to control and accelerate their
planned growth. “We’re all really excited about
the capabilities that our new IT
platform will deliver” says Mark,
“and we’ve also gained a new fully
skilled employee to help run it
all; Dayan Fernando B.Sc, M.Sc,
MBCS, CISA, our graduate
partner liked working with us so
much he decided to stay!”
MAJOR INVESTMENTS
» » THE LAST TWELVE
months have seen Trade Window
and Door Manufacturer, Lister
Trade Frames of Stoke on Trent,
make some serious investments
in their IT infrastructure
across the business. Now,
they have just launched a
fully customised financial and
business management system set
to revolutionise their operations
well into the future.
“Our business has become
ever more complicated over the
last few years as we manufacture
many more window systems,
variants, materials and options
for our trade customers,” says
Mark Warren, Listers Managing
Director. “Our IT systems have
to be able to control all of this
information across the whole
business operation so that we can
meet and exceed the needs of our
clients.”
Some 30 months ago, Listers
identified potential cracks in
their IT systems and partnered
with Staffordshire University
on a KTP (Knowledge Transfer
Partnership) to bring into the
business an IT Graduate to
assess their position and to
plan how best to deliver the
latest technology to meet their
future needs. That plan focused
on reducing some 13 software
applications to just 2 by this May
2017.
“This was an ambitious
plan,” says Mark, “and we
knew it was going to cost us a
lot in time, planning and cost
around £200,000, but we were
determined not just to improve
our systems, but to future proof
them in support of our business
expansion.”
Staffordshire University
and the IT Graduate have
14 » JUL 2017 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M
www.listertf.co.uk,
http://www.staffs.ac.uk/