37
NEW YEAR MESSAGES
Rob McGlennon,
managing director,
Deceuninck UK
Jay Patel, sales
and marketing
director,
Everglade
Deceuninck finished
2018 on a high, with
sales up 21% and a
win at the prestigious
G18 awards for ‘Product of the Year’ with
Linktrusion technology. We’re expecting similar levels of growth
in 2019.
For some, 2018 was a difficult year. But while the middle and
budget market is shrinking by as much as 10-15%, according to
our estimates, the top end premium market is growing strongly.
This growth is being fuelled by the Haves, mostly house-wealthy,
older homeowners whose homes have appreciated dramatically
in value over the past 20 years. The Haves want the best design,
performance and range of colours to enhance and add value to
their homes, and they are prepared to pay for what they want.
Deceuninck has been riding this powerful wave and we’ve
developed the right products and colour range for our customers
to sell more at the top end of the market. We call it ‘following the
money’.
I can’t predict the outcome of Brexit, but the UK economy is
continuing to defy gloomy forecasts and there is every sign that
the premium market will continue to grow. Brexit won’t spoil the
party – the Haves have little or no mortgage and they own much
of the country’s savings. With rising house prices paying for their
new windows and doors, why wouldn’t they invest in the best
products to add even more value to their homes?
To capitalise on this growing market, you need active partners
who support your growth and who can give you the products,
service and tools to succeed. Colour is growing rapidly as a
proportion of the market and we’ve invested in logistics, online
ordering, state-of-the-art foiling plant and a world-class foiling
team to be fully colour enabled. By that we mean we supply
26 (soon to be 30!) colourways from stock. So, whatever our
fabricator customers order, it arrives on their next delivery. We’re
planning further investment in 2019 in extrusion, foiling and
new products. Look out for a brand new flush product in the
Heritage Collection.
If your sales are down and your margins are getting hammered,
it could be time to take a new approach in 2019.
What a year 2018 was at
Everglade Windows!
Full of new launches
and support for installers,
we won three awards, bought a second
Quadra machine, had our best ever trade customer conference
and launched aïr 80HI, the high-insulation, flush aluminium
window.
At Everglade, we’re always looking ahead and doing our
research so that we can launch on-trend products well ahead
of the curve. It’s what we did when we launched aïr, the most
impressive range of bi-fold and lift and slide doors, back in 2013.
Since then, we’ve replicated this across other ranges, including
our steel-replacement Heritage 47 aluminium windows and
doors and aïr MOD-Series aluminium entrance doors.
The change in home improvement purchasing trends, from
distress purchases 20 years ago to today, where glazing is bought
as part of a lifestyle choice has provided so many opportunities.
Delivering products early, helping customers to stay ahead of the
game like this, means they can reap the benefits of new markets
and grow.
“we’re always looking ahead and
doing our research so that we can
launch on-trend products”
That’s why we launched aïr 80HI in 2018. Flush aluminium
windows are the next big trend for homeowners, and aïr 80HI
combines the captivating aesthetics and impressive performance
values that aïr is known for. The window completes the full suite
of premium domestic aluminium glazing, so installers can offer
the full package for homeowners, from window to entrance
doors, wide-span lift and slide and bi-folding doors.
Now, we’re looking ahead to see what trends will be next,
so we can develop products for customers to get ahead of the
curve. We’ve got exciting plans for 2019, to help installers across
the South East make the most of as many market opportunities
as possible and add even more value to their offering for
homeowners.
www.ggpmag.com January 2019
Deceuninck's 5000 tilt and turn window
with Linktrusion specied in the Oakgrove
Village development
/www.ggpmag.com
