Hold fast

The sector is steeling itself for another prolonged period of uncertainty, fluctuating material costs, and greater demands on the quality of products, but the challenges of 2022 will offer the opportunity to set the course and standards of the industry for the next decade, says Nick Roberts, CEO, Customade Group.

The last two years have been a perfect storm of circumstances which each business has had to adapt to on an almost daily basis.

When I was appointed to the role of CEO of Customade Group the first task was to act fast to halt the spiral the company had unfortunately found itself in, while also in the midst of managing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the first national lockdowns. Adapting to the HR, material, manufacturing, and delivery challenges the pandemic has presented has been a constant ever since I walked through the door. However, it has also allowed a fantastic group of people to excel themselves in the face of extraordinary factors.

We know the impact of widespread material shortages across almost every raw material group has defined the past 12 months for the fenestration sector. But our management team used their skill and dedication to manage these issues and maintain operations across the group.

Investment in people, and the reorganisation of the structure of the Customade Group has been a central pillar in our rebuilding strategy. We have more clearly defined roles from the management teams; from the group to each business unit and on the factory floor.

It was so important to me that we also introduced wages in line with the Real Living Wage, not just because of the financial incentive, but also because it was the right thing to do for a workforce that continued to operate under extraordinary pressure.

As a result of this reorganisation and recruitment strategy we now have people in place across each division within the group – doors, PVC and aluminium – who are laser focused on improving the service we provide to our customers.

Our vision is to be the best service provider in our industry, and this year this means repaying the faith a good number of our customers have held in us through the thick and thin of recent years.

We have put in place systems to better communicate progress on orders to customers, and to work with them more closely to ensure orders make their delivery destination on time, in full. The impact has been rapid and one of the strengths within Customade Group is how quickly necessary changes are implemented and then start to deliver results that benefit the whole supply chain.

There is a very clear link between financial success and high-quality service. We have seen in each of our businesses how increased service levels and improved customer engagement has flowed through to better financial outcomes. Delivering high volumes of product, but having a large percentage return to the factory as they are not of the right quality is of no use to me, and is certainly of no use to our pressed and very busy customers.

The philosophy for manufacturers and fabricators in 2022 should be that if you look after your customers, they will look after you.

There has been a lot of discussion across the industry about the impact of the incoming updated building regulations and how best to adapt to the new requirements once they come into effect in June. From my perspective, I see a great opportunity for our company and the wider fenestration sector to demonstrate the skill, ingenuity, and innovation to develop and deliver the next generation of products and systems that will define the next decade in glazing.

If you are an innovator, as many of the largest names in the sector are, I suspect there are already extensive plans in place to improve existing products, or to bring new products to market to meet the new reality.

I know there is a school of thought that smaller operations can fly below the radar and carry on with business as usual, but I think that’s a complacent approach in the long run and ultimately results in turning away from huge market potential. So, mitigate, yes, but as we have all seen in the past two years the world is unpredictable and ‘adapt or die’ has never felt so real a statement to live and thrive by.