There has been a cooling off in demand for PVC-U windows and doors over the last quarter, and although as a business we are up on average 19% month-on-month, this incremental growth can be attributed to inflation as well as a streamlining of our operations.

While things have cooled, there is still a strong foundation of customers who continue to buy windows and doors despite worsening economic conditions. In fact, more homes in the UK are owned outright than have a mortgage, so if those homeowners also have savings, the interest rate increases may boost the RMI market. The cake may be smaller, but there are still plenty of opportunities for merchants to take a slice.

One way to grow your slice is the drop ship vending model. There is massive potential to grow the e-commerce and digitalisation offer in our industry and we are rapidly increasing our own commercial partnerships in this area. Windows and doors are bulky, heavy, difficult to store and easily damaged. With drop ship, these items can go straight from the factory to the customer via a third-party merchant who simply adds the products to their portfolio to upsell customers.

As well as remaining agile by giving the merchant and end-user customers multiple routes to selling and buying the products, Q3 saw the roll out of our plan to ‘right size’ our business. It’s prudent to ensure you are profitable whether you are busy, or sales are in a dip, particularly given the forecasts for recession and the uncertain times we’ve been in since 2020.

Q3 also saw the roll out of Approved Document F of the Building Regulations in England to improve ventilation in properties by fitting replacement doors and windows with trickle vents. This new specification has divided opinion in the industry as the ventilation naturally creates a draught which negatively affects the energy efficiency of the product.

There was some good news this quarter as proposed energy surcharges from raw material suppliers didn’t materialise. We hope this is the start of material costs starting to come back down as suppliers look to gain a competitive edge as we move into 2023.