The British weather has finally shown its more benevolent face and led to an increase in building work. But at the same time, foot and mouth disease has emerged as a reason – or an excuse, some argue – for lower levels of joinery demand in affected areas of the UK. There have been reports, for example, from the mass production joinery manufacturing sector of some rural refurbishment projects in Scotland having come to a standstill because of difficulties in making deliveries to and working on the site.

Likewise, in the architectural joinery trade, levels of activity appear to vary from one part of the country to another, with some operators claiming to have enjoyed a bumper spring while others point to a growing lack of business confidence as the main reason for a downturn in orders.

However, it is perhaps worth noting that, four years ago, many people within the joinery sector were attributing a perceived drop in business confidence to the prospect of a new Labour government. This time round, the outcome of the general election appeared so sure that the market barely noticed.

Taking the mass production sector first, the market has staged something of a recovery in the second quarter after what was almost universally regarded as a slower than expected start to the year. The merchant sector in particular was said to have ‘woken up in the second half of April and throughout May’. Concern was still expressed in certain quarters, however, that housebuilding had gone off the boil in many areas of the UK.

The market for internal doors appears to be as competitive and as price-driven as ever. There is a continuing trend for door sets and door kits, with an increasing emphasis on factory finishing.

Regaining ground

In timber windows too, glazing and factory finishing has become an increasingly staple requirement although this ‘value-adding’ has made window prices ‘a little freer’ than those for doors, it was suggested this week. Despite reports of a large building firm moving to PVCu windows, there was evidence to suggest that timber windows were more than holding their own in the market. According to a spokesperson for a major manufacturer of both timber and PVCu windows, the former are ‘clawing back a bit of market share’.

The head of another well-known timber window manufacturing operation suggested this week that the ‘haemorrhage’ towards the PVCu window option had largely ceased. ‘But the customers who are coming back to timber windows are not coming back to the same window that they were getting 20 years ago,’ he said. ‘They are now getting something with value added.’ The growing emphasis on green issues and environmental sustainability had also been a factor in convincing some major national builders to return to timber from PVCu.

The timber window market, he said, could be expected to maintain its momentum into the summer.

Staircase manufacturers are also being boosted by the release of pent-up demand that had built up during the poor weather late last year and early this year. According to one prominent manufacturer, the staircase order book has been reasonably strong for some time but recent weeks have brought even more impetus to sales. Builders are particularly keen to do business with staircase suppliers who can meet a lead time of less than a month.

The same sector is also witnessing demand for assembled or one-piece staircases straight from the factory. According to one leading player in the staircase market, this trend reflects the general reduction in skilled, on-site resources available to many builders.

BM-TRADA‘s certification scheme for fire door installers has already attracted 15 signatories and some registrations have been approved. Aimed at promoting correct installation procedures, participants must attend appropriate training courses before passing on their knowledge to junior staff. A brochure has been produced to explain the scheme.

BM-TRADA is also developing a certification initiative for fire- resistant glazed screens. Input on the proposed scheme will be sought from the joinery sector at three consultation days in July (TTJ June 9).

Meanwhile, the British Woodworking Federation has been looking to maintain the momentum built up by its own Certifire fire door certification scheme. It has sent mailshots to building control departments, environmental health departments, contractors and builders, with details of scheme members who can customise fire doors with glazed apertures.

Window promotion

&#8220This time round, the outcome of the general election appeared so sure that the market barely noticed ”

BWF certified windows have recently appeared in Wood for Good advertising and it has also launched a major national campaign of its own to promote timber windows in builders and timber merchants (TTJ May 12). According to the federation, the initiative has already drawn widespread appreciation from the sector and is likely to continue for another two to three months.

Research conducted for the BWF’s Timber Window Accreditation Scheme indicated that ‘overwhelming consideration’ was being given to the use of timber windows among local authorities, housing associations and conservation officers – not least because of the increasing emphasis being placed on ‘sustainable construction’. The federation has looked to enhance the green credentials of its own timber window scheme by pledging that all products made by accredited members will be produced from sustainable resources by 2004.

The gathering momentum behind timber windows was exemplified by the BWF’s ‘Windows for the Future’ conference in April. The event – attended by around 130 delegates, including specifiers, builders and housing association representatives, as well as window manufacturers and their suppliers – has prompted a large number of requests for information from people who were unable to attend.

Within the past few weeks, there has been both bad news and good news from high performance joinery product manufacturer Allan Brothers. The Berwick-upon-Tweed subsidiary of Palgrave Brown announced 31 redundancies but stressed the move was part of a bid to improve productivity. The company had improved sales by 14% year on year and was ‘very much holding its market position’, Palgrave Brown insisted.

There is also interest within the trade surrounding the outcome of Nobia‘s proposed purchase of Magnet from Enodis plc. Most observers wonder whether the Magnet joinery operation would be regarded by the prospective new owner as a suitable bedfellow for its core kitchen business.

For its part, the architectural joinery sector seems to have split into two diametrically opposed camps at present – one typified by the operator who asked if TTJ could help him find six joiners by tomorrow to fulfill a hectic order schedule, and the other by the company that complained of a lack of general business confidence that had led to ‘very tight’ market conditions.

Exceptional demand

The most upbeat of the architectural joiners contacted this week spoke of demand that was ‘just above exceptional’, a factory capacity rate of more than 95% and an order book that was ‘broadly full’ as far ahead as October. ‘People are pleading with us to provide them with joinery estimates, but there is no point,’ said a contact. ‘We haven’t got the capacity to take on any more work.’

In his area, he added, everybody seemed busy, few companies appeared to be available to take on subcontracted work and attempts to recruit new joiners were having a very poor response. ‘We are constantly advertising for staff but we only get the occasional one,’ he said. ‘The rates of pay are broadly the same everywhere, so that’s not the issue.’

On the other side of the coin, some operators pointed to fears of recession and the effects of the foot and mouth crisis as reasons for a perceived lack of investment in new joinery projects over the past six months. Demand in the housing sector was reasonable, one source said, but refurbishment and new construction were relatively uninspiring. One contact even predicted some ‘fall-out’ in the architectural joinery trade because of an excess of companies in the sector.

Margin constraints

Several contacts opted for the middle course in describing market conditions. One source, for instance, pointed to his own company’s considerable workload but also to the ongoing difficulties in securing an improvement in margins. ‘We are very busy and have even tried to sub a little bit of work out to others,’ he said. ‘But as soon as you try to push the rates up for the work, then it’s not so easy.’

Demand for architectural joiners is coming from the broad spectrum of market sectors, although high-quality housing projects and office fit-outs were mentioned more than most as particularly strong.

The architectural joinery sector has reported virtually no problems relating to timber supply. Prices have been relatively stable to falling during recent weeks, and there have been no real problems with availability. ‘There was a bit of shortage some months ago on some timbers, but that has disappeared,’ said one contact. ‘You can get whatever you need.’

As ever, the North American hardwoods – notably hard maple and ash – are said to be enjoying strong demand from specifiers.