Changing a home for the price of a sofa
Apeer MD, Asa McGillian, believes that with the price of a decent composite door comparable with a sofa, selling residential doors has moved way past home improvements into the realm of home decoration.
The first composite doors entered the UK around 25 years ago and as such they are a relatively recent addition to the window and door replacement market.
Replacement door sales began to really take off with the introduction of the ubiquitous moulded PVC-U panel in the ‘70s, a product which still accounts for a significant number of sales each year, despite the dominance – and comparative attraction – of composites.
Whilst composite doors have dominated residential door sales at Apeer, now one of the top six producers, the Northern Ireland based firm still makes and sells around 500 moulded PVC-U door sets every week, as the firm’s managing director, Asa McGillian, reflects: “There remains a clear demand for the product, as they are now very keenly priced and offer excellent value for the money. They are now far better than they were in their heyday.
“But of course, our composite doors are the main sellers now, accounting for 98% of our door sales.”
And these have evolved to such a high level of performance and aesthetics, believes Asa, that sales have now tipped away from being a substantially ‘capital home improvement’ investment, to one that is increasingly justified as a decorative choice.
“The composite door has come a long way since we sold our first in 2003,” he says. “But as the quality and performance of composite doors has improved, and especially the choices in styling, the colour and accessory options, side lights, glass choices and so forth, then homeowners often choose to alter both the interior – and especially the exterior of their homes – for a price comparable to a couple of couches, or a three-piece suite.”
Now coupled with the improved thermal performance brought into play with the introduction of the revisions to Approved Document L of the Building Regulations, the justification for a standalone purchase of a new residential door, has never been stronger.
With property prices and energy costs soaring, this gives retail installers what Asa believes is the ‘perfect storm’ within which to grab the attention of homeowners: “House prices in most areas have reached record levels, which increases the confidence of homeowners in the value of their main asset.
“There remains a huge commitment to continuously improve our homes. But rather than seeing a new resi door purely as an add on to other structural components, when they look at what they might have spent on furniture or decorations, spending a couple of thousand pounds on a new resi door, that will lift the appearance inside and out, isn’t a major investment anymore and can be done with so little disruption.
“Our options list is now extraordinary,“ adds Asa, “giving our retailers a virtually unlimited choice to satisfy their customers’ interior and external styling desires. Couple the aesthetic desires with the rather more serious imperative of enormous rises in energy costs and our doors having the best thermal performance – as low as 0.7 w/M2/k – and there has never been a more compelling environment in which to sell residential doors.”
None of this is new, insists Asa: “We fundamentally changed the way we marketed our doors around three-and-a-half years ago and our direct-to-homeowner marketing is unashamedly lifestyle,” explains Asa.
“We approach homeowners in a similar way that the suppliers of other home elements approach them and we are now competing for the cash that homeowners have to spend on styling and furnishing their homes, as well as the budgets they may have for physically improving the house itself.
“We push all the buttons to get them to choose a new front door – an Apeer front door – over new floor coverings, or dining room furniture, or bedroom cupboards. And when we began this process, quoting ‘U’ values wasn’t sexy, though even that has now changed dramatically of course. Energy saving is back in the spotlight again,” he says. “Perfect.”
