Clearview National January 2020 - Issue 218 | Page 27

ANNUALPREDICTIONS
‘ONGOING DEVELOPING’ 2020: A YEAR OF CHANGE
AND A SMOOTHER
AND DEVELOPMENT
At five-years-old, Lancashire
JOURNEY AHEAD
fabricator Icotherm may seem young
in fenestration terms; but with 500
roofs under its belt already and
an expert team with decades of
experience between them, the solid
roof systems brand has fast become
a company to be reckoned with.
» 2019 WAS ANOTHER
year of growth for VBH in
terms of increased customer
numbers, sales, product range
expansion and reputation. Our
position as a true hardware
innovator has been reinforced
and recognised with success in
various awards.
2020 will, of course, be
a challenge due to ongoing
political and economic
uncertainty.
The key to thriving in such
conditions is to understand
market trends, and develop
products and tools that help our
customers sell.
This is what VBH has done in
recent years and will continue
to do through these testing
times. Ongoing development
of greenteQ products to suit
‘Lifestyle’ aluminium elements,
including bi-folding and lift/slide
doors, enables us to enjoy great
success in this still booming
sector.
Colours, smart products
and added value selling tools
will continue to be at the fore
in 2020. With our greenteQ
colour-matched furniture suite,
Q-Smart door handle, and our
no-nonsense Q-secure home
owner guarantee, we can supply
superb solutions in all of these
areas.
However bumpy the ride
may be, VBH is ready to smooth
the journey through this new
year for our customers, old and
new.
» HAVING MOVED TO A
15,600 sq ft premises in
Blackburn, after three years
in Bolton, the business just
Simon Monks
Managing Director
VBH (GB) Ltd
seems to be getting bigger
and better, with no signs of
slowing down this year either.
Growing a product offering
– with four roof types already
– the Icotherm agenda for
2020 includes a brand refresh,
a new website, new product
offering, (even more) increased
manufacturing capacity and
development of a fabricators
network.
So, while the word
‘uncertainty’ may have been
used a lot in the industry and
beyond for the past few years,
when it comes to MD Dave
Jackson and his team, there is
certainly a lot to look forward to
in the next 12 months.
Increased supply and demand
» DESPITE BREXIT UNCERTAINTY
hitting consumer and business spending, 2019
saw a good year for FENSA and generally for
our Approved Installers, with total installation
volumes notified to us broadly flat year-
on-year. However, there was more monthly
turbulence than normal and standard phasing
went out the window.
With the uncertain political climate
continuing, we are budgeting for a small
downturn in installation volumes as a result of
consumer demand, but we’ll continue to support
our FENSA Approved Installers outperform the
market by promoting them to homeowners,
following the success of this year’s TV campaign,
as well as adding more value-added services to
make their businesses easier to run.
We expect BFRC to perform strongly next
year. With the upcoming likely changes to
Approved Document L, and all major political
parties focusing on energy efficiency, we’re
likely to see increased supply and demand in
excellent energy efficiency products. The free
BFRC energy ratings available to FENSA
Approved Installers will provide them with the
opportunity to win more work as the relevance
of energy efficient windows and doors takes on
a new lease of life in 2020.
www.fensa.org.uk
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