Chris , how did Edgetech fare in 2020 ?

It was obviously very challenging – and we feel hugely for the firms in other sectors , like hospitality and tourism , who were devastated by the impact of the virus .

But Edgetech ’ s financial year runs from November to October , and for us , 2020 was much better than we ever would have anticipated back when the first lockdown began .

More importantly , the IGU manufacturers we work with did very well - the majority exceeded their targets , some by as much as 180 %.

How did you respond to coronavirus ?

We ’ re part of Quanex , the multibillion-dollar American building products group , and they take health and safety extremely seriously .

That means we do , too – and when the pandemic arrived , our most urgent priority was keeping each other safe .

Initially , during the first lockdown , that meant shutting down production in a safe , orderly fashion .

We closed production from March 25th to May 11th , and during that time we followed our Crisis Management Plan , and implemented extremely stringent social distancing measures

throughout our Coventry facilities so that we were ready to restart safely .

The team really rose to the challenge . We have kept each other safe and well by working as a team with regular communication and feedback . I am extremely proud of how everyone has responded and what we have achieved .

You mentioned earlier that many of your customers have done well since the first lockdown lifted , and we know the last two quarters of 2020 were strong for fenestration across the board . Were you surprised by that ? And where do you think that demand came from ?

I don ’ t think anyone knew what to expect coming out of that first lockdown . It ’ s become a very overused word since the start of the crisis , but the situation was unprecedented .

It ’ s extremely hard to gauge how people are going to react to something as unexpected as a global pandemic .

In terms of where the demand we ’ ve seen comes from – I think some of it was pent up over the course of the lockdown .

Many projects were already in progress when the restrictions were first introduced and had to stop . Others had been planned to

take place during the Spring , but were postponed .

On top of this , after that first lockdown ended we saw thousands of homeowners divert disposable income that would have normally gone on foreign holidays and leisure into renovation projects .

It ’ s also much easier to have windows and doors installed when you ’ re working from home . In normal times , people might have to take annual leave to let an installer in . Now , millions are home almost all the time .

It ’ s hard to predict what the next few months will bring , but what are your expectations for 2021 ?

I don ’ t think we ’ re dealing with the legacy of the pandemic yet . We ’ re still in the crisis phase , and sadly I expect we ’ ll see unemployment continue to rise across the country in the year ahead .

We ’ ve also seen supplier lead times lengthen , in part as a delayed impact of the end of the first lockdown , when all elements of the supply chain came back very cautiously .

However , before the crisis I was saying that I think the long-term prospects for fenestration are very good , and the pandemic hasn ’ t changed that . If we ’ re going to meet the government ’ s highly ambitious net zero targets by 2050 , energy-efficient windows and doors will have a vital role to play .

What I want to see now is the government seize on this as an opportunity to accelerate that net zero agenda .

We ’ ve seen some indication of that already – like the Green Homes Grant introduced in the summer , or Boris Johnson ’ s Ten Point Plan .

However , I doubt I ’ m alone in thinking these pledges don ’ t go nearly far enough .

The majority of the homes people will be living in by 2050 have already been built . That means we need to see enormous investment in retrofitting Britain ’ s housing stock – and it will take serious , sustained government investment to make that happen .

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