Annual Predictions
UNPRECEDENTED DEMAND FOR PRODUCTS
What a rollercoaster of a year 2020 turned out to be . Emerging from Brexit with sales up 15 % YOY and named in the Top 50 Fastest Growing Companies in Yorkshire , Conservatory Outlet , like all others , was hit by the COVID-19 lockdown . We rolled up our sleeves and got stuck straight in .
» LAUNCHING A ‘ LOCKDOWN SALES competition ’ amongst our retail network , salespeople across the country were supercharged to battle it out for the top spot , adjusting their approach as they went . Conservatory Outlet was able to achieve lockdown sales in excess of £ 4m in the sevenweek period spanned by the first national lockdown .
Conservatory Outlet ’ s success was further reinforced by a recordbreaking marketing campaign . We proactively engaged our industry-leading marketing agency DigitalKOG to plan and execute our ‘ Stay at Home Sale ’ campaign to adapt to the extraordinary market conditions . This led to a 75 % year-on-year increase in sales leads .
From there , we ’ re delighted to report that we ’ ve gone from strength to strength , with a number of our customers breaking monthly sales records for two , three and even four months consecutively . For our Wakefield manufacturing hub , this has meant that we ’ ve been busier than ever and maintained hugely elevated levels of output right throughout the autumn and into the winter .
Despite the uncertainty caused by COVID , 2020 also saw the unveiling of our exclusive new collection of super-slim aluminium windows and doors – the Eclipse Collection – which has taken the market by storm . Finally , we were also delighted to welcome a number of new network members to the Outlet family and were officially recognised by the London Stock Exchange Top 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain 2020 .
But enough about 2020 , now is the time to look forward . With the new year comes renewed optimism and energy , and we ’ re already busy putting our plans in place for an ambitious four-year strategy that will see
the business grow by a further 50 % by 2024 . The huge increase in capacity and throughput during the second half of 2020 has demanded a significant expansion to both our facilities and our workforce . Conservatory Outlet is therefore in the process of implementing a three-stage £ 1m factory investment which has already seen us purchase extensive new equipment , make key additions to our senior management team and introduce an additional 10,000 sq ft of manufacturing space , ensuring we ’ re fully geared up for 2021 and beyond .
In addition to the manufacturing upgrades , we intend to continue to offer our Network of customers industry-leading support throughout 2021 . Across the next 12 months we will roll-out and implement brand new , state-of-the-art retail websites for each of our retail partners . We ’ re supremely confident that these new sites will vastly improve the customer journey , as well as showcasing enhanced video content and imagery , improving enquiry conversion and reducing the total cost per lead . As ever , this will be offered completely free of charge to our customers and will support them to generate a
consistently high volume of good quality sales leads into the future .
To supplement this , we ’ ve also invested in the development of a brand-new online review engine to actively drive a steady stream of homeowner reviews for our retail customers which will further strengthen their brand reputation . Internally , the scores and feedback generated by ‘ Network Reviews ’ will be used for benchmarking and continuous improvement .
As we ’ re all too aware , the overwhelming surge in demand during the second half of 2020 has been compounded by an overstretched supply chain across our industry . Conservatory Outlet , like others , has worked incredibly hard to navigate these waters , with our production and operations teams challenged to implement exceptional measures to ensure we continue to deliver on our ambitious promises .
With the supply chain now settling to some level of normality , we see no reason why the unprecedented demand for our products should slow in 2021 - and we ’ ve never been stronger and more prepared to take it on . We ’ re incredibly excited for what this year has to offer .
www . conservatoryoutlet . co . uk
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