Energy saving home improvements will continue to be on consumer wish lists in 2023 despite the cost-of-living crisis, according to Andy Royle, director of Leads 2 Trade.

“Towards the end of 2022 we saw a 29% increase in turning customer enquiries into business and a 41% increase in appointments arranged for our members and those have mainly been for products around saving energy, such as double glazing, replacement conservatory roofs and solar panels,” said Andy.

“With energy bills expected to increase again in April, homeowners will understandably continue to look for home improvements that can save them money and we see consumer interest remaining high for those products.”

Andy expects wealthier earners to continue spending – and believes that installers who seize the opportunity to diversify will reap the benefits.

“Lower income earners might be more reluctant to spend in 2023, but higher earners will still splurge on home improvements and installers must be ready to take advantage. We expect to see more installers diversifying their product range to high ticket items to target those different age and income demographics.”

Andy also expects to welcome more installers to the Leads 2 Trade member network as their self-generating lead efforts slow down.

“While the expected downturn never really materialised in terms of lead enquiries, installer order books and quote books will continue to dry up a little and they will need help in keeping those leads coming in,” added Andy. “We’re not off seeing pre-Covid levels of demand and have two of our biggest accounts already back on board for 2023.

“So, the enquiries will be there for installers – it’s now about our members taking advantage of them to grow their businesses in 2023.”