Chris Wann , Operations Director , Made For Trade

With that in mind the year ahead is no doubt set to be another challenging one for all businesses as we continue to deal with an unprecedented economic landscape with such highlights including a stagnating economy , high interest rates , big minimum wage hike , inflation and world events such as wars and a US election all making their ripples felt .

On the flipside , and timely as I write this , recent events are causing a bit of a jump in confidence from decreasing interest rates in the US and news of the UK inflation coming in at a rate below expectation is fueling predictions of UK rates going the same way . Sadly , what this really illustrates is the one thing we have learnt from the last three years is that in this time of great uncertainty , it ’ s the unknowns we ’ ve not thought of that cause us the most problems !

My prediction then is that something totally unexpected is

going to pop up and cause a major swing in the forecast for the year , and that we can be sure of . Thankfully I ’ m naturally an optimist and at MFT we are looking at 2024 in a positive light , even daring to predict some growth !

Market wise we are expecting challenges as everybody else should be . Our headline product requires building works which the balance of cost of remortgage / improvements vs house value is slowing down demand for and the market for the lantern is now being flooded with similar , sometimes too similar , products . We feel that the bifold market is very much alive and kicking which our H2 performance has certainly shown . What the market wants is clearly still aluminium systems and regardless of actual changes to building regulations the homeowner will rightly expect to see improvements in the thermal performance of those on offer , something we all need to ensure we have in our development plans for 24 and beyond .

Our answers to the economic slowdown are at least 2 new product launches getting underway in the year and we finally

expect to see the fruition of our investment in service level improvements across customer service , digital experience and transport . New products , a collaborative “ continuous improvement ” lead working relationship with Clayton Glass ( who incidentally deserve a special mention as their invaluable support in 2023 has accelerated us towards a one drop service ) and the expansion to a 25 strong delivery fleet means a significant improvement in our ability to deliver a broader range of fast to fit glazed doors and roof lights , right first time , to a broader range of customers . Sales is another business function where we recommend companies should be investing

in 2024 , at MFT we have added heads to our in-house new business team for more focused , better quality account management and we continue to look at area sales managers who can get product in front of customers and really show off the unique benefits of the Korniche range and our Premium Partner scheme .

We also expect some big improvements to our KwikQuote software allowing a much more efficient process from sale through manufacture which will save our staff time which can then be spent providing more of our gold standard customer service .

So , in summary it ’ s likely not a great outlook for the market itself and with cash likely becoming

increasingly expensive to borrow , unfortunately things could get very challenging for businesses in the industry which are reliant on debt finance to stay afloat . Thankfully for MFT our business is built on 40 years of profit and sustained cash generation , we ’ re in a good place with some solid plans and identified areas where we can expect growth . With those we are hoping to create some great new products , improve our service and make new opportunities for employment and career advancement in the North East .

Choose your supply partners wisely in 2024 !

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