36
JANUARY 2014 PRO INSTALLER
PRO BUSINESS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
GREEN DEAL LOSES
CREDIBILITY BUT ENERGY
EFFICIENCY IS THE
FOUNDATION OF GROWTH
A new poll suggests that industry has lost faith in the Green Deal but remains confident of continuing
growth throughout 2014, driven by demand for energy efficient home improvements and product innovation.
Published this month,
the second ‘Emplas
State of the Market
Report’, found that
overall, installers were
upbeat about their
prospects in the coming year, with 98 per
cent of those surveyed
predicting growth compared to just 67 per
cent in 2013.
But while respondents
were broadly positive
about their future prospects, they were far less
optimistic about the Green
Deal.
With an aim of improving the energy efficiency
of more than 14 million
homes by 2020, the scheme
was launched by the Government this time last year
but far lower than expected
take-up means that fewer
than 1,000 households
were predicted to have
signed-up to energy efficiency improvements in its
first 12-months.
This has led to growing
scepticism among installers, with 98 per cent of
those surveyed stating that
they did not expect to win
any business through the
Green Deal in 2014. This
represented a hardening
of position on 2013, when
a third of respondents
said that they hoped to
win business through
the programme. None of
those polled as part of
this year’ study had won
business through the
Green Deal in the preceding 12-months.
Kevin Johnson, Managing
Director, Emplas, said: “The
findings are consistent with
those last year. Very few
installers were optimistic
about their prospects under
the Green Deal then and
the hugely disappointing
take-up of the scheme to
date suggests that they had
no reason to be.
“But we should be careful not to throw the ‘baby
out with the bath water’.
The Green Deal has so far
put in a lack luster performance but its fundamental
premise - that we need to
improve the energy efficiency of UK housing stock
- remains sound.”
This was identified as
an area of opportunity for
those responding to the
study with energy efficiency
ranked as the single most
important factor in driving retail sales. This was
followed by security, quality
and only then cost.
Johnson continued: “The
recession has been a sobering experience for consumers. Even during the
downturn research shows
that consumers were not
drawn to the lowest prices
by default. Instead, there
was increased focus on
quality on the basis that ‘if
you buy cheap, you buy
twice’.”
Product innovation was
cited by all respondents as
providing the ‘backbone’ of
growth this coming year,
with composite doors and
colour products tipped by
86 per cent and 80 per cent
‘Homeowners
want quality
and they want
choice.’
of respondents respectively,
as a basis for growth in
2014.
Analysis of the prospects
for triple-glazing were also
somewhat more conservative, listed as a source of
growth in 2014 by just 17
per cent of those polled,
compared to just short of
half, in 2013.
But perhaps the biggest shift was the growing
mood of optimism that surrounded the conservatory
market. Last year a source
of melancholy and lamentation (cited by just 17 per
cent of respondents as a
source of growth), this year
73 per cent of those polled
said that they expected to
see the sector expand.
“Product innovation, the
growing number of hybrid
products on the market,
innovation in glass technologies and an expanding
second-time replacement
market mean that the
conservatory market is at
last turning a corner”, said
Johnson.
Emplas sustained an enviable level of investment
throughout the downturn.
This included the launch of
the ‘Livinroom’ conservatory/orangery cross-over
from Ultraframe.
The trade fabricator has
also made similar investment in its other offers
including the launch of a
new GRP door range which
sits alongside chamfered
and fully sculptured casement windows, vertical
sliders, bi-fold and inline
sliding doors, all available
in a wide variety of colours
and finishes. Emplas has
also mobilised the latest
digital technologies to support its customers including the launch of its new
Online Customer Portal.
Johnson concluded:
“Homeowners want quality and they want choice.
They also want it quickly.
We have been refining
our product range, stock
holding and service offer to
make sure that we’re able
to support our customers
in delivering it.
“We believe we have an
offer to be proud of but
most importantly one that
is fully tuned to the challenges and opportunities
that lie ahead of us this
year and beyond.”