By Mike Rigby, managing director of WindowBase.

Looking out for, and responding to, market trends marks out successful businesses. Early movers with a competitive edge take advantage of new opportunities, often with higher profits.

This can be seen in one of the biggest trends in the last 25 years – the move to aluminium residential windows and doors.

Aluminium was the specifier’s material of choice for commercial projects, facades, and tall buildings, but innovative PVC-U is muscling its way in. And while aluminium had lost out comprehensively to PVC-U in residential markets, in the last 25 years it has stormed back, particularly at the top end of the market.

Its revival, after years on the fringes of the domestic market, started with the premium sector’s love affair with slim-framed, big-vista sliding patio doors. But since 2019, it’s gone into overdrive with the introduction of innovative new systems.

Figures from the Window & Doors Market Trends report published earlier this year by WindowBase and Tommy Trinder, reveal aluminium advancing on all fronts.

Based on definitive WindowBase data from the last 25 years, together with insights from current retail quotations by 550 leading installers using Tommy Trinder software, the report analyses market share and value, and compares results nationally and by region. It shows how the numbers of fabricators and installers have changed over the past 25 years, which products are more popular – and what materials are in demand.

Aluminium’s rise can be seen in Chart 1, which shows the percentage of companies using different materials from 2001 to 2023. Drilling down shows that three times as many installers sell aluminium now as in 2001.

While aluminium has taken more market share in volume, its share of value has increased even more. Analysis of 70,000 items quoted by 500 installers on Tommy Trinder show that 17% of all items installed in the UK are aluminium, but aluminium accounts for 36% of the market by value (PVC-U takes 56%, and timber 8%).

The national average installed selling price for aluminium bifold doors, for example, is £1,204+VAT per door leaf (from quotes on Tommy Trinder).

Regional differences

The percentage of firms installing aluminium is greatest in London and the South, but it’s risen in every region since 2006. The number of firms installing PVC-U has declined in every region in the same period.

In 2023, 34.4% of firms in South-East North and 33.9% in South-East South installed aluminium.

Many window installation companies started as small retail PVC-U fabricators before focusing on what they excelled at and selling a mix of materials. An increasing number of large PVC-U fabricators now make aluminium too. WindowBase data shows that the number of aluminium fabricators has grown by almost 50% since 2005 – whereas the number of PVC-U fabricators has almost halved since 2002.

Aluminium’s growth has accelerated with new competition and innovation. Its challenge now is to improve energy efficiency as regulations tighten, without adding disproportionate cost.

Read the report at www.windowbase.co.uk/windowdoortrends24/