Lis Clarke , Operations Director

There ’ s no denying it has been a tough market for installers over the past two years . What we ’ ve seen is a normalisation of the market after the surge seen during Covid and you only have to look at what has happened to Safestyle and Everest to see that even the most established of brands aren ’ t immune to the pressures seen .

The Data

Importantly though , there are some positive signs that we can point to which would indicate an improvement in the market in 2025 .

The positives are that throughout ’ 24 we ’ ve seen the decline slow down and then flatten out in Q4 . As such , we ’ re forecasting the domestic RMI market to grow slightly in ’ 25 with further recovery being seen in ’ 26 , so the tough trading conditions we ’ ve seen will alleviate to some extent .

Average Price Per Job

What will be really interesting to watch over the next twelve months will be the average cost of a job . In 2018 , the cost to a homeowner was £ 2,916 . By 2022 that price had increased to £ 4,567 . A huge increase . Interestingly though , that average price had actually slightly reduced in 2024 . Given that supply chain costs haven ’ t dropped in the past two years this would suggest that margins are being squeezed and the increase in costs isn ’ t being passed on to homeowners . A race to the bottom ? We hope not and something to keep an eye on .

Training

A major issue facing the industry is the decline in numbers of the industry ’ s workforce . There is a 6 % reduction forecast between ’ 22 and ‘ 27

Of greater concern is the number of workers without vocational qualifications in our industry that will need retraining over the next 12 months in order to gain a CSCS card for accessing construction sites .

Since 2020 , data shows that just 2,045 fenestration related vocational qualifications have been issued . In the current marketplace , the data shows that over the next 12 months there are over 14,000 workers either needing new , or to renew , qualifications .

Value For Installers

Given the trading conditions over the past twelve months it ’ s vital we continue to provide the best value for money for the FENSA community of installers .

With discounts on equipment , fuel , insurance , workwear and marketing working alongside our pioneering recycling scheme , escrow service and free lead generation we believe that every single one of our installers can save their business significant sums of money and win more work at the same time .

We ’ ll be bringing some exciting new exclusive member benefits to market in the near future and we ’ re confident they will provide real impact for our installers .

Roadshows

Another important development next year will be taking the FENSA brand out on the road

across England and Wales once more .

We know just how busy our installers are every day , so we want to give them the opportunity to come and speak to the FENSA team on all manner of subjects . Whether that be building regs , recycling , inspections and more .

We ’ ll be announcing our roadshows in the new year which will include FENSA having a big stand and presence at FIT Show in April and May where we expect hundreds of installers over the three days .

Installation Of The Year

A highlight of the year is always seeing the winners of our Installation Of The Year collect their award at the G Awards . Huge congratulations this year must go to Concept Glazing who were chosen from 500,000 installations the FENSA community carries out across England and Wales over the year .

Seeing the hugely impressive body of work that our installers carry out each year is a rewarding and fascinating project . The skill levels on display across the country

on a whole range of products never ceases to amaze and we ’ re so proud of the work our FENSA Approved Installers undertake .

As a result , we ’ ll be launching a new Installer of The Month award throughout the year to reward outstanding work . All of the monthly winners will then go onto the shortlist for the winner to be announced at G Awards . We can ’ t wait to see what our FENSA Approved Installers achieve once more in 2025 .

www . fensa . org . uk