Looking forward to FIT ‘25

With the dust still settling from last week’s FIT Show, I’m already looking forward to the next event in two years’ time.

Timed to coincide with new regulations on energy efficiency for the Future Homes Standard, it will give companies plenty of time to develop even more new products – and will potentially attract more systems companies and some of the grander stands that we have enjoyed in the past.

In the meantime, the industry is still enjoying relatively strong demand, at least if the latest figures from the Business Pilot Barometer are anything to go by.

After a ‘blip’ in April, retail sales leads have rebounded 7% in May and 23.1% up on the same period last year.

Given the fact that we’ve only had one full week in May thanks to all the Bank Holidays, it’s not completely surprising that average sales dropped compared to April, but again, they are up 8.9% on May 2022.

Business Pilot’s latest Barometer report is at odds with some other unofficial industry feedback that paints a much more pessimistic outlook, but we should be encouraged by its data especially when you consider the backdrop of stubbornly high inflation and mortgage rate rises.

The industry has, so far in 2023, managed to do better than an expected. Here’s to more of the same for the remaining six months and beyond.