profile
A former member of the world council for the IWSF, the International Waterski Federation, and regional EAME council member, Rob McGlennon was British Champion. Rob also played rugby for Cardiff and is a lifelong enthusiastic sailor.
He became Sales Director of Finesse Window Systems in the 1990s, and then as Sales Director led the growth of the Epwin Group plc from 2002. He was appointed Sales Director for Deceuninck UK and Ireland in 2014, where he and his team have taken customer partnerships to a new level and transformed Deceuninck’s growth to become one of the leaders in the window and door industry.
Deceuninck
With a heritage spanning over 80 years, Deceuninck is at the forefront of windows and doors and is No 3 globally for innovative, high performance, sustainable PVC-U window and door systems. The company also supplies aluminium systems. A network of fabricators throughout the UK and Ireland makes Deceuninck windows and doors for residential, commercial and housebuilding.
Deceuninck’s highly desirable product range includes the Heritage Window Collection, a selection of Flush Sash, Chamfered and Sculptured windows and doors, available in a choice of 30+ colourways from stock and 20 further colours on very short lead times. It’s innovative 5000 composite window with award-winning Linktrusion™ Technology is a popular choice for commercial applications because it offers developers very slim, very strong, energy efficient windows and doors in a wide range of colours.
With a world class foiling team at Calne and colour from stock, Deceuninck is No 1 for colour in the market.
A newly invested recycling facility near the global headquarters in Belgium quadruples the previous recycling capacity to process up 45,000 tonnes of material a year, reinforcing Deceuninck’s pledge to the circular economy.
Visit: www.deceuninck.co.uk/en-gb/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/deceuninck-uk/
Twitter: @DeceuninckUK
Launched in 2015, the award winning monthly Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) report is the only reliable measure of repair, maintenance & improvement (RMI) activity in the UK. Filling an important gap, it can be widely used in construction, and by economists, Government, national media, commentators and influencers outside the industry.
Deceuninck Comment: Q4 2023
What will happen to the window and door industry in 2024? It’s easy to get depressed by bad news and talk the market down. But if you look there’s also a lot of positive news, What are the forces at play?
Regardless of your political leaning, the Government is likely to change in the next 12 months, bringing fresh eyes and enthusiasm. A new Government must be seen to address the big problems, including housing. Young voters are feeling disenfranchised. Home ownership is out of reach for many young voters who are forced to live with parents or friends or in shared accommodation at high rents. Many are Labour voters who expect a new Government to put housing at the top of its to do list.
In a new Financial Times analysis heavyweight forecasters say England needs 500,000 new homes a year to keep up with the country’s rising population, far more than either main party has pledged to deliver, and far more than the industry’s capacity to build. The industry is looking to Government for a reduction in weather-vane politics to give them the confidence to invest in additional capacity. A population boom from record levels of migration, rising domestic demand and a historic undersupply has raised latent demand. Over 20 years, governments have failed to build the target of 300,000 new homes a year, and the backlog is growing. “We need to be aiming higher,” says Paul Cheshire professor emeritus at the London School of Economics.
The prospects for RMI also look strong, driven largely by the need to upgrade the energy performance of Britain’s housing stock.
Despite news that the UK economy entered recession at the end of 2023, technically or for real, consumer confidence is increasing. Falling inflation and food prices have lifted spirits, and the smell of change is in the air. GfK’s Consumer Confidence Index climbed three points to -19 in January 2024, the best it’s been in two years. Better still, consumers’ personal financial index, their willingness to spend, improved to zero after 24 months of negative scores. According to Savills, the over 65s held a record £2.2 trillion in mortgage free housing wealth last year. There are good times coming for the window and door industry.