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NRH
An update from the National Retrofit Hub( NRH)
Retrofit will only scale if the supply chain is ready The ambition to improve the UK’ s homes will place new demands on the construction supply chain. Whether that ambition translates into a strong and sustainable market will depend partly on the businesses manufacturing, supplying and distributing the products required.
Builders’ merchants and suppliers to merchants are therefore not at the edge of the retrofit conversation. They are central to making it work.
The merchant and supplier sector already supports the repair, maintenance and improvement of homes across the country. It brings extensive knowledge of products, customers, local markets and distribution. Many businesses are investing in lower-carbon products, technical support and workforce development.
This experience needs to inform how the retrofit market develops.
Creating a market that businesses can invest in Retrofit is often discussed in terms of the finance available to households, landlords and housing providers. However, capital funding is only one side of the equation.
Businesses across the supply chain must decide whether to invest in product development, manufacturing capacity, stock, training and distribution. These decisions require greater confidence in the size, location and continuity of future demand.
Short-term schemes, changes in policy and longer-term certainty make that difficult. Demand can rise quickly and fall just as sharply, leaving businesses to manage the cost and risk. Different schemes can also bring different technical requirements, timescales and routes to market.
A stronger retrofit market needs a clearer relationship between national policy ambition, local plans and supply-chain capacity. Demand will vary by place, shaped by local housing, communities and priorities. Businesses need greater visibility of where work is expected, at what scale and over what period, so they can invest in the right people, products and distribution. This would help build stronger local supply chains while ensuring retrofit supports local jobs, skills and economies.
Making the whole system work The supply chain cannot solve these issues alone.
Manufacturers and suppliers need better visibility of future demand. Merchants need the confidence to invest in the right products, knowledge and services. Installers need access to suitable materials and training. Local authorities and housing providers need trusted and competent delivery partners. Customers need confidence that products and services will perform as expected.
Standards, finance, procurement, skills, product innovation and distribution all shape the retrofit outcomes. A decision made in one part of the system can create opportunities or difficulties elsewhere.
Investment in household demand will have limited effect if product shortages increase costs or delay projects. Ambitious local programmes will be harder to deliver if national policy, procurement and supply-chain planning are not aligned.
New products will struggle to gain ground if manufacturers find it difficult to navigate certification or if specifiers and installers lack the confidence to use them. Initiatives such as RetroNetZero( a project supported by the National Retrofit Hub), which helps manufacturers and specifiers navigate certification for innovative solutions, show how practical support can help new products reach the market.
This is why the retrofit conversation needs to include everyone involved in turning ambition into delivery.
Looking at the wider economics of retrofit The National Retrofit Hub is establishing a Retrofit Economics Working Group to examine these connections.
The group will look beyond the upfront cost of retrofit measures to consider the wider economic conditions that influence what can be delivered. These include material and labour costs, supply-chain capacity, access to finance, risk, regulation, running costs and the wider value created through better homes.
The aim is to bring together people with different roles and perspectives, understand how their decisions affect one another and identify practical changes that can support a stronger market.
The knowledge held across the merchant and supplier sector can help answer some of the questions retrofit now faces.
What would give businesses greater confidence to invest? Where are supply constraints most likely to emerge? How can demand be developed in a way that supports long-term capacity rather than short-term peaks? How should product knowledge and skills keep pace with a changing market and regulatory system? Where would greater consistency make the biggest difference?
These are commercial questions as well as policy questions.
A shared opportunity A larger retrofit market offers significant opportunities for businesses across the construction supply chain. Realising them will require greater certainty, better coordination and a realistic understanding of what delivery involves.
It will also require different parts of the sector to listen to one another. Merchants and suppliers need to be involved while approaches are being developed, rather than asked to respond once decisions have already been made.
We want builders’ merchants and suppliers to be part of this work. If you / your organisation would like to share its experience or contribute to the Retrofit Economics Working Group, please register here:
https:// nationalretrofithub. org. uk / join-a-working-group /
Building a successful retrofit market is a shared task. The businesses that will supply it should have a meaningful role in shaping it.
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