Double Glazing On The Web

The effect of the recession on householder’s confidence, coupled with the decline in new builds, is having a knock-on impact on the glazing industry. Fewer new builds means fewer new windows and doors. Fewer home improvements mean fewer replacement windows and doors…

There’s no denying that it’s tough and is going to get tougher, although industry will always find a way to adapt and some are better placed than others to weather the storm. South coast based Double Glazing On The Web for example, is an established glazing firm which recognizes the benefits of the internet in reducing costs and overheads, whilst maximizing their client base.

 Web-based sales provide considerable advantages to the sellers, but more importantly they are very customer driven, making the whole buying experience easier and less invasive to for the client. To find out more visit: www.doubleglazingontheweb.co.uk

 Joergen Jensen, regular columnist for Director of Finance Online, has spoken out about the government’s latest vehicle scrappage scheme by saying:

 “The money should rather be used to encourage people to insulate their houses better and replace single glazing windows with double glazing windows. That doesn’t destroy value, but creates lasting value and at the same time reduces the CO2 emission and cuts future heating bills.”

Personally I don’t think the industry could have a better endorsement. Proof that as a product, double glazing is environmentally friendly and an economically viable investment.

Heartwarming news for all, and not just those involved in the replacement windows and double glazing markets, a  company involved in the manufacture of windows, doors, and conservatories, which reported profits of just £53,500 in its previous accounts, has just announced a profit of £253,000, that’s a 500 per cent rise over an 18 month period.

The turnaround seems to have been made possible by a reduction in the salary of its highest-paid director from £199,000 to £157,000, and a withdrawal of dividend payouts for the year March 2007 to March 2008 with all profits being transferred to the Company’s reserves.

There are two messages here, I think:

1) All is not doom and gloom

2) Those high salaries are still in existence!

Yesterday’s much vaunted Pre-budget report was intended to stimulate the economy by getting us all to dip into our pockets, but will it do so?

This site is, of course, concerned with doors, windows and conservatories - home improvements that not only make your home look better, but also improve it’s energy efficiency, thus bringing it into line with the government’s green agenda.

As Michael Ankers, CEO of the Construction Products Association, so eloquently said in this morning’s Guardian:

Energy efficiency measures for housing are welcome, but at an additional £100m fairly modest, and disappointing that this focuses only on insulation when much could be achieved by support for double glazing and upgrading of central heating boilers.

And really, what is 2.5 pence in the pound worth in real terms when you’re trying to bring your home up to the standards of those government guidelines?

A report from Palmer Market Research, a market research organisation active in the UK building industry,the public sector market for replacement windows continues to offer some business potential. this despite the falling private sector market.  Even so, the market for replacement windows in the social housing sector fell by 4% in 2007.

Palmers subdivide the social housing market into a further two sectors:

• Local authorities and Arms Length Management Organisations
• Housing Associations and other Registered Social Landlords

Robert Palmer, who heads up Palmers, says that the overall downward trend masks differences between the two sub-sectors and, although the local authority market is down, the housing association market is buoyant.

His company’s prediction is for a decline in the replacement window market by 5% in 2010, growing to a 6% decline in 2011 and 2012.  Palmer is also at pains to point out that exterior doors consistently outperform replacement windows.  Based on this fact, he predicts a 3% growth for the exterior door market in 2008, a 2.5% increase in 2009, moving to a slight decline between 2010 and 2012.

He bases these predictions not just on the less saturated market but also on the increased perceived need for home security.

You know, Palmer has a point about home security - so next time, I’ll tell you how our exterior doors can increase the security of your home.

Some conservatory suppliers are reporting up to 45% increases in sales over the past three months.

The probable reason for this trend-bucking statistic is that conservatories are seen as a risk-free way of enlarging the home, thus adding value to the property.  In this very uncertain housing market, moving home is nigh on impossible and there is a very real fear of negative equity.

Adding that conservatory is one way, and a very good way, of safeguarding the value of your property, and giving you more living space.

A recent report by Sky News suggested that the cost of home improvements have risen by at least 20% over the past two years.  Sky itemise the following increases:

• 25% more for a basement conversion
• 21% more for a loft conversion
• 22% more for a conservatory
• 22% more for installation of double glazing

Despite these reported increases, it is still good economic sense in the current financial climate to improve rather than move.

And we really can minimise some of those costs for you.  Double Glazing on the Web does not employ a sales force, so we do not have to pay wages and commissions.  Neither do we indulge in fake ‘money off offers.’  What you see on our site is what you get, so you can budget safe in the knowledge that you won’t be hit with any extra costs.

If you thought that ethical double glazing was a contradiction in terms, it’s time for you to start thinking again.