Summary
• The good weather at Easter helped drive sales.
• Grow your own ranges have performed strongly.
• Sales have slowed as consumer confidence has been knocked.
• Disposable income will still be invested in the garden.

The timber garden products sector enjoyed a strong start to the year, thanks in no small part to the excellent Easter weather, but is under no illusions that the 2012 season is going to be easy.

“We had an early season this year and the weather went from snow to sun quite quickly,” said Grange Fencing managing director Duncan Hill. The company’s grow your own range has performed well, as has its landscaping range, probably on the back of the former as products such as railway sleepers are often used to create DIY raised beds.

“We had a really good February, an okay March, April and early May and we’ve ended up where we hoped we would be – but not ahead,” said Mr Hill.

Consumer spending slows

The combination of the early start to the season and the “underlying macro economic position” has caused consumer spending to slow down since the end of May, he added.

Forest Garden also got off to a racing start, producing around 40,000 standard lap panels per week in the peak season and dispatching a record number of deliveries.

“It’s been a real year of two halves,” said sales and marketing director John Gomersall. “We had a fantastic start to the year; we were proactive in making sure our stockists had plenty of material on the ground over the public holidays and we had great weather.

“However, late May and June was the reverse – and the weather was bad,” he continued. “Consumer confidence took a knock when some big high street names such as Thorntons and Focus DIY went under and it’s led to people keeping their money in their pockets for a while.”

“There is a definite nervousness out there about the level of spend on projects,” added Forest’s head of marketing Vicky Nuttall. “There was a trend towards premium products – and we’re still selling those – but there has been a retreat back to lower priced items that are perceived as being more value for money.”

“We now need to manage our stocks as best we can, drive autumn sales by encouraging people to tidy up their gardens ready for winter and hope for reasonable weather in September,” said Mr Gomersall.

Easter sales were good for Severn Valley Woodworks too, although the glut of public holidays put pressure on production.

“We’ve been at or close to full capacity all year,” said director David Twigg. “Our garden centre brand, Hutton, has performed very well and is over budget, and our fence panel sales are growing year-on-year. Being a British manufacturer has enabled us to provide more of a just-in-time service – and our finished product isn’t so affected by currency fluctuations.

Tough winter ahead

“Order books are good but we anticipate that orders will reduce more quickly this year as UK plc feels the effects of the government’s austerity measures. I think this winter may be tough for the whole industry, but where there is disposable income, people will continue to spend money in their gardens.”

Timber Garden Buildings (TGB) dealt with this year’s bumper crop of public holidays by adopting a “business as usual” approach. “The Easter period was particularly good for us, so much so that the Royal wedding Bank holiday was put on hold to allow us additional production time to deal with the volume of orders received prior to the event,” said managing director Graham Vernon.

Bestselling products remain the summerhouse range and the purpose-built Elton home office. “This building offers the opportunity to convert a purpose-built shed into a home office with insulation at minimum cost,” said Mr Vernon.

Slow summer

Mirroring the experience of the rest of the timber garden products sector, however, he said orders had been “less forthcoming” through the summer. The Scottish branch of TGB has recorded a 42% sales increase over last year but, overall, sales are just 7% up. “We’ve increased our customer base by 20% over the year, so that gives an indication that customers are feeling the pinch,” said Mr Vernon.

He agrees, however, that where there is any spare cash, the garden products sector will benefit. “Due to the reduction of property values and the lack of borrowing opportunities, homeowners have tended to stay put by force, rather than choice, but as a result have spent any disposable income on improving their homes and gardens,” he said. “And many of them are spending time in their gardens rather than travelling abroad on holiday.”

“With the housing market still not flourishing I believe people will continue to invest in their gardens, treating them as outdoor rooms, but I think they will be thrifty shoppers,” agreed M&M Timber’s managing director Nigel Poyner.

M&M Timber’s mill is still running at full production following an “extremely busy” Easter period, he said. The company’s landscaping, play and agricultural products are continuing to perform and its grow your own products and trellis ranges have sold particularly well – although these are starting to slow as garden centre customers focus attention on Christmas merchandise.