ASSOCIATIONS
7
For plumbing firms , 2021 has been a very mixed bag . “ The worst sector for plumbers was in construction , as big projects are in a crisis . We have seen a number of plumbing business closures . Next worst was plumbers involved in commercial property maintenance and smaller developments , a sector which has also had a very tough time , because people have not been congregating in offices or malls . It ' s starting to come back , but for quite a long time they were really suffering ,” says Reynolds .
“ The plumbers that have done well are those in domestic maintenance , in line with people working from home . People have been upgrading their homes , because when working from home they find that things that irritated them for an hour or two every day are a lot more irritating when it is for 10 hours a day . Or whereas they were out of the house for eight to 10 hours a day and using facilities elsewhere – now they want to upgrade their main facilities .
“ There ’ s also the factor that from higher usage taps and toilets start breaking . Plumbers have responded – we have seen a lot of plumbing businesses move into different spheres and quite successfully , but some were unable to . Their business structure was wrong , or they had invested so much in becoming a specialist in a particular field . And sadly , some of those businesses have folded .
“ But overall , plumbers have been able to adapt much better than a lot of other industries like the hospitality or live entertainment industries where it has been bedlam . As an industry , we have weathered the storm and that is one prediction we can safely make for 2022 – that it will continue to be a weathering of a storm .
“ Nonetheless , the first word that comes to mind for me about this year is ‘ uncertainty .’ I am sure , like many people , I just do not know how to budget for next year because I do not know what conditions to expect . For two years in a row , we have done budgets that have been completely out of our control . And it is not just about budgeting , but more broadly it is about predicting where the country is going . And I have no idea ,” says Reynolds .
Not the year to take risks Could we have a fourth wave of Covid-19 and more lockdowns ? Following the municipal elections , will coalitions even be able to function “ My advice to the planners for next year is for them to be agile and flexible – to be ready for lockdown or anything else that comes along . And to really look after the pennies . This is not the year to buy that X5 . If I have the choice between buying an X5 and putting my money in the bank just in case something goes wrong , I would certainly be putting my money in the bank or an investment .
“ It will be a year in which to be flexible and fast on your feet . It may well be that that is going to be our future – we are going to need to be adaptable to fast-changing business conditions . We have got to be a little bit more conservative in terms of the nice-to-haves . For me , I am going for an ultra-conservative budget ,” concludes Reynolds . PA
“ It will be a year in which to be flexible and fast on your feet .”
HAVE YOUR DETAILS CHANGED
� COMPANY � PHYSICAL ADDRESS � POST BOX � TELEPHONE � EMAIL
Talk to us to ensure you don ’ t miss a single issue !
Email : distribution @ interactmedia . co . za www . interactmedia . co . za
March 2022 Volume 28 I Number 1 www . plumbingafrica . co . za