INDUSTRYNEWS
Locksmiths and the glazing industry:
is the Synergy getting stronger?
As we look at these two markets, and the exhibitions that support
them, it seems impossible to ignore that they are coming together at an
alarming rate. Looking at the exhibitor lists from the FIT Show, we can see
that the biggest names from the glass and glazing - and those from the
locksmith industry - are increasingly showing their wares side by side.
market, it has in recent years had to produce
a better finished product as demanded by its
UK-based customers. The last four years of
austerity conditioned a lot of companies focus
on repairing existing - and not continually
replacing - as has been the practice in the
past.
With greater demand came the inevitable
pressure on the price of the hardware products.
In a number of cases, this led to cheaper prices,
pressure on margins and the need for the UK
suppliers to broaden their customer base.
The relevance of this is the downstream
activity of a number of the biggest supply
companies making their products available
to a much larger number of prospective
buyers. While locksmiths have always
predominately dealt with locks and safes,
now according to recent surveys – 80
percent of everything a locksmith turns out
to daily is uPVC related.
The fact that major builders’ merchants
are growing their managed services business,
and partnering with local authorities for the
supply of goods and services for the repair
and maintenance of their social housing and
housing association stock, brings the two
business models closer together.
WORKING SIDE BY SIDE
In a lot of these types of service agreements,
operatives from both uPVC re Z\