For the garden industry the 2006 season is already well under way and timber garden product manufacturers welcomed in the new year in September at Glee, at the NEC.
The 2005 season proved to be “challenging” and “unpredictable” for the international garden and leisure market, but exhibitors and visitors at this year’s Glee seemed determined to put that behind them. Visitor numbers were slightly up, from 24,761 to 25,124 and the number of overseas visitors jumped an impressive 17.4%.
Of the 1,689 exhibitors, the big guns of the UK timber garden products sector were pulling out all the stops and being rewarded by high levels of interest.
Market leader Forest Garden‘s head of design and marketing, Vicky Barker, declared Glee to be “the best for four or five years”. Forest’s impressive stand showcased all the company’s new ranges, which include 17 garden buildings. Sitting alongside Forest’s more traditional summerhouses is Arc, a garden room created by contemporary furniture designer Gareth Neal. Featuring a curved roof, fully opening front concertina doors and tilt and turn windows, Arc is the height of garden chic.
With prices starting at £7,500, Arc is targeted at the top end of the market. “Arc is about innovation and breaking down the boundaries,” said Ms Barker. “It is very design-led and self-indulgent and definitely not mass market – although it will filter down.” Forest hopes to have an insulated Arc available by the end of the season.
Insulation is becoming a must-have for garden buildings and Forest’s award-winning LifeSpace, which was launched last year, now comes fully insulated with double-glazed windows and a tinted polycarbonate roof.
The 2006 range includes arbours that fold up into car boot-sized kits, Rennie Macintosh-inspired garden screens and pergola shades. The latter feature fabric panels offering protection from sun and rain.
The company is also launching Forest at Home which will provide a delivery and installation service for the DFY (done for you) market. “We’ve been trialling it for the last few months and are definitely going to roll it out for next season, with a February launch,” said Ms Barker. It has the added benefit that retailers don’t have to hold so much stock, she added.
“Log cabin” manufacturers were much in evidence at Glee with Cotswold Cabins, Dunster House and MWS numbering among the exhibitors. Lillevilla Log Cabins manufacturer Luoman caters for the international garden centre market and produces 70,000 cabins a year from its Finnish factory. Seventy-five per cent of the Lillevilla cabins are for the self-build market and, according to director Pete Withey, an outlay of around £6,500 can add £20,000 to the value of a house.
Quality visitors
Mr Withey was pleased with the quality of visitors to his stand, a sentiment echoed by Dainius Stankauskas, export manager at Eurowood (Eurovadas). The Lithuanian company is enjoying its second year of exporting its log cabins to the UK and of exhibiting at Glee. “We like the UK market and we’re doing well now,” said Mr Stankauskas. “Visitor numbers are better this year and we’ll definitely be back.”
First-time Glee exhibitor Finnforest elected not to show its range of cabins, but its 285m2 stand was no poorer for it. Finnforest has entered the garden market with a huge product offering including GARDENinspirations – a collection of themed gardens.
The collection comprises three ranges: contemporary, design-led Meta; traditional, English-style Heritage; and country cottage-style Broadland. Each includes matching products such as fence panels, arbours and planters within their portfolios and, in addition to the three distinct collections there is a full range of stand alone products, such as a gazebos, decking kits, pergolas and decorative fencing.
“GARDENinspirations represents a real step-change in the way that these products are presented and thought about,” said Warren Dudding, Finnforest’s UK marketing manager. “It is hoped that these collections will aid the consumer in achieving the design and feel they require, providing innovation, choice and quality.”
Other Finnforest launches were acoustic fence panels, decorative balustrades combining timber and glass or timber and metal and a “surprisingly affordable” pool and deck (£4,000).
Finnforest is seeking distributors for the new products which are already available to those customers currently sourcing material from the company and, according to managing director John Tong, is working on around 250 leads generated at Glee.
Second-time exhibitor M&M Timber‘s managing director Nigel Poyner described the show as “brilliant” and the calibre of visitor enquiries as very high. M&M’s stand ranked as one of the most attractive of the show with its products displayed as they should be in the garden, complete with flowerbeds.
M&M specialises in British-grown, machine-rounded and pressure-treated timber and its new range includes the Cottage Rose Walk – an extended pergola walkway – and the Woodman furniture range. The company is also manufacturing trellis for the 2006 season in order to offer customers “the whole package”.
At a shade under £1,400, Direct Timber’s Imari gazebo is pitched firmly at the top end of the market – as is the company’s new pergola. Designed and manufactured from contoured laminated timber by an, as yet, un-named Italian company (which specialises in sports pavilions), the pergola is set to retail at between £3,000-4,000.
“It’s targeted at the specialist end of the market, but we need more exposure to get the volume through,” said development director Mike Pitcher, adding that builders merchants are diversifying and adding value.
Exposure at Glee came in spades: “We were sceptical about the first day,” said Mr Pitcher, “but enquiries were actually 20% up on 2004. We’ve already opened orders and new accounts [on day two] and we’ve seen lots of builders merchants and buying groups at the stand.”
Double visitor numbers
Grange Fencing‘s 2006 product range also had plenty of exposure. The company doubled its stand size this year and, according to marketing executive Louise Mason, was rewarded by double the number of visitors. “We’ve taken some orders already and have made some good positive contacts,” said Ms Mason.
Grange’s stand was separated into two distinct halves, one geared for builders merchants, featuring drop sorters and other merchandiser deals, and the other oriented towards the garden centre business.
New products here included arches, arbours, pergolas, fencing, gates, planters and, attracting a lot of attention, the Garden Reflections range, which uses mirrors to add depth and perspective to a garden.
Polish manufacturer Jagram has been supplying independent garden centres, timber and builders merchants, sawmills and DIY stores in the UK since 1994. “We’re here to meet old customers,” said marketing director Andrzej Nietubyc, “and we’ve had a good response to a marketing campaign in the south and south-east where we were under-represented.”
The company specialises in top quality laminated timber and can manufacture laminated arches up to 3.6m, incorporating these into garden centre walkways and extensions for glasshouses.
Jagram strongly believes in providing visually strong displays for garden centres that “give consumers ideas and provide a solution for quick buying”.
From October 31 the company will offer a loyalty scheme whereby customers can gain points for sales over a minimum order and use these for future purchases.
Quality has become the real issue for the UK garden products market, said Mr Nietubyc. “We have to escape from low margin product – 10 years ago the timber here [at Glee] was rough sawn and untreated, but now the quality is much better,” adding that he is looking for different markets and customers “who put the emphasis on branding rather than on commodity”.
One newcomer to Glee, Cheshire Mouldings & Woodturning Ltd is putting a huge effort into adding value. “The market is not expanding as much now, but Cheshire’s turnover is increasing because of adding more products,” said managing director John Carney.
“We have new plant coming in and a new sales job in London and next year we’ll be looking for growth by taking market share from competitors,” he added.
Cheshire’s stand attracted the attention of decking manufacturers looking to add balustrades to their own products. “We’ve added some much more contemporary lines,” said Mr Carney, adding that quality had improved “across the board”.
