Industry faces income squeeze

The Resolution Foundation has forecast that a typical household income will fall by about £1,000 this year, the biggest reduction in income since the mid 1970s.

Many households were already bracing for a hike in energy costs from April and from National Insurance contributions, but the war in Ukraine is likely to inflict a much greater squeeze in the cost of living. This will hurt lower and middle income families the most, but everyone will be paying more for food and at the petrol pumps.

What impact will this have on our industry? Consumer confidence was down in February, reflected in figures from the GfK consumer confidence index, and it is unlikely that the appalling situation in Ukraine will be doing much to improve on that.

On the flip side of the coin, however, it might be the case that consumers will be looking at the news headlines of oil and gas prices rising due to the war and decide that now is the time to upgrade to better performing windows and doors.

With that in mind, it also seems trivial to be worrying about home improvements, when hundreds of thousands of ordinary people in Ukraine no longer have a home to go to.

There have been some truly inspiring stories emerging from the conflict, including the incredible work of Stoke on Trent fabricator, Listers Central, which has organised and delivered truckloads of vital supplies for Ukrainian refugees to Warsaw in Poland.

An outstanding effort by Group MD, Roy Frost, and the team at Listers.