FROMTHEEDITOR
Established just a year ago, The Northern Powerhouse Partnership( NPP) aims to increase the contribution the North makes to the UK economy. The aim is to achieve this through co-operation with local stakeholders at all levels along with government.
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IT WAS NOT SURPRISING THEN THAT NPP chose VEKA Group’ s Burnley headquarters as the location for the launch of its latest report;‘ Powerhouse 2050: The North’ s Routemap for Productivity’. The report focussed on Education & Skills, Infrastructure & Assets, International Competitiveness, and Leadership & Learning – the four primary capabilities of the Powerhouse 2050 report which hones in on Advanced Manufacturing & Materials, Energy, Digital, and Health Innovation, with a series of specific proposals for government funding, business investment and closer collaboration across the North.
Following an introduction from Director of Northern Powerhouse Partnership Henri Murison, former Chancellor and NPP Chair George Osborne delivered a rousing speech on the past, present and future of the initiative.
Mr Osborne said:“ One of the major aims is to improve connectivity ….
“ We have all the ingredients we need for the Northern Powerhouse to succeed, and now it’ s time to make some decisions on what to focus on, because choosing everything, means choosing nothing. A great idea like this cannot live and die with any one MP or government, but if the North itself owns this idea, it will endure.”
ENERGY EFFICIENCY Energy efficiency is a phrase with which we are all now all too familiar, but we must remind ourselves of its crucial importance at every level. This industry plays an increasingly significant role in energy efficiency as our feature in this issue demonstrates.
G17 IS ALMOST HERE!
Congratulations to all the finalists in the G17 Awards, all of whom have worked extremely hard in a tough year, and who richly deserve some industry recognition for their efforts. The awards event is always a major highlight in the calendar and this year will be no exception.
Pat Gwynnette, Group Editor
CHALLENGE AND OPPORTUNITY: THE WINDOW DOOR AND CONSERVATORY SECTORS TO 2021
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PALMER MARKET Research’ s new report into the performance and prospects of the UK window and door industry, warns of significant headwinds, with a slowdown in the housing market and uncertainty surrounding Brexit.
Palmer’ s new market research report, The Window, Door and Conservatory Markets in Housing in Great Britain, accounts that the industry performed above forecast in 2016.
This included growth of 1 % in volume terms and 7 % in value terms to £ 4.5bn, driven by a shift towards higher-end products.
The market for windows in total grew 1.2 % to 6.82million frames and remains dominated by PVC-U. This this was, however, outstripped by a 5.5 % increase in installed value to £ 2.38bn.
The‘ trade-off’ to this growth was a slowing in the volume PVC-U market and a continuing decline in sales of timber windows.
More positively, the report found that average installed prices of conservatories were up by 12 %, while conservatory replacements saw growth of 6 %, although this was offset by a decline in first time installations of 4 %.
If the industry performed above expectation in 2016, Palmer is far less sanguine about its prospects going forward.
The report paints a complex picture defined by pockets of substantial growth but delivered against a forecast backdrop of market contraction of 4 % this year, 2 % in 2018 and 1 % in 2019 before a return to moderate growth in 2020.
The Window, Door and Conservatory Markets in Housing in Great Britain 2017 nonetheless identifies some significant areas of growth going forward. These are for the most part defined by product and material type.
The growth recorded in bi-fold door sales and those of mechanically jointed PVC-U windows means that both are tipped for significant growth going forward as part of the general shift to higher end products. The fortunes for windows, doors and conservatories are again mixed, defined by a combination of installation and material type.
www. palmermarketresearch. co. uk
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