Quality, not quantity

In last week’s newsletter I commented that some businesses were still doing very well despite a general perception of a cooling in demand from the retail sector post pandemic.

The response to that has been mixed. At the Glass Times race day last week – a fantastic event that welcomed 400 or so people from across the industry to a sun-drenched Haydock Park – some were saying that demand was still high, while others were adamant that conditions were much more challenging.

There was even some suggestion that demand for home improvements is now regionalised, with certain parts of the UK still capitalising on the migration away from cities to more rural and coastal locations.

While I’d still be very interested to hear more from fabricators and installers (please email me at luke@glasstimes.co.uk) the latest Business Pilot Barometer has delivered some very interesting figures on the health of the industry.

The bad news is that sales are down – as much as 30% when compared year on year for June. However, the good news is that average order value has increased dramatically, up 43% for the same period.

According to Business Pilot’s senior analyst, Neil Cooper-Smith, this reinforces the outlook that inflationary pressures are – on the one hand – stifling growth, while at the same time opening up big opportunities for larger, ‘whole house’ purchases to improve energy efficiency.

You can read the full report here.