One joinery manufacturer said the last six months have been a case of ‘battling through’. However, investment and product development in the sector continue apace and manufacturers are reporting signs of greater market stability and anticipating trade picking up as the year progresses.
Anticipating a downturn in the domestic market in 2023 against the backdrop of the cost-of-living crisis, door and window maker West Port directed its focus on its commercial and social housing business. The decision paid off, reported managing director Ian Newey, with the company enjoying a record year. More recently, however, sales slowed.
“There have been challenges due to continued weakness in the economy. It’s been rocky and I don’t know any joinery producer who will tell you otherwise,” he said. “Timber fire door sales continued to grow, but window demand has just been hovering. Market uncertainty saw projects nudged back and we’ve had to work harder to stand still. But the better news is we’re now seeing some delayed projects coming back.”
Dr Luke Whale, technical director of Staircraft, which has been part of Travis Perkins since 2021, reports a challenging market through 2023.
“And 2024 has seen continued attrition,” he said. “Competitors are focused on keeping factories busy and prices have come under pressure. We pride ourselves on making products that are a bit unique and when the market is moving you get a better price for the innovation we build in. When it’s attractional that changes. It becomes difficult to guard margins.”
But Staircraft is also seeing tentative green shoots.
“A more positive sign is that builders previously focused on working to order, are beginning to build a bit more speculatively,” said Dr Whale.
Against a background of continued lower housing transactions, Josh Burbidge, managing director of timber home improvement products manufacturer Archwood reports “general trade has been tough”.
“The market softened from May 2023 and business slowed across the board in DIY, RMI and new build,” he said. “Our stair products held up quite well, mouldings haven’t done too badly, but outdoor products have been considerably down as consumers invested so much in decking during the pandemic.
“Overall people have not seen the property price increases they did, so are not investing so much in their homes. We’ve also seen destocking by some retailers, merchants, and larger stair manufacturers, so there’s been some deflation in the market. That said, estate agents are now talking about an uptick in their activity.”
Allan Brothers saw an “overall drop in the timber window market from Q3 2022 through much of last year, with competition and price pressure remaining high”.
“Falling inflation will help business in the long term, but in the short term, the combination of the cost-of-living crisis, high interest rates and uncertainty around the upcoming election has made people cautious about buying decisions,” said managing director Morten Bach Valsted.
“However, since Q4 2023, the market seems to have stabilised, with our timber vertical sliding sash windows doing extremely well, making up for any dip in casement sales.”
Managing director Andrew Madge said lower housing stock turnover did not adversely impact Gowercroft Joinery’s premium domestic window sales in 2023. But commercial orders declined significantly, with projects postponed or cancelled due to increased borrowing costs, and the company was “fortunate to enter the period with a strong order book, which allowed us to ride the storm”. Now, however, the company is also seeing those delayed orders coming back on stream, indicating the commercial market is turning a corner.
Gowercroft is also seeing improvement across its various routes to market this year.
“Our distribution network supplying straight to consumers has been performing very well,” said Mr Madge. “And the construction, developer and contractor markets, which were very slow, have come roaring back.”
Also benefiting the market more recently has been greater timber price stability.
“We’ve seen prices come down significantly from pandemic levels,” said Dr Whale. “And, while bets are off for 2025, our commercial director believes any rises this year will be marginal, and that price and availability won’t be an issue.”
At the same time, Gowercroft continues to “negotiate hard” with timber suppliers to get best value for customers. “We’ve also sought ways to cut waste to improve overall pricing to market,” said Mr Madge.
Manufacturers say their continued pace of product development is in part to differentiate themselves in today’s competitive market but also a sign of positivity about improving prospects through 2024 into 2025.
In March, one of Archwood Group’s trading brands Richard Burbidge launched its PaintReady Wall Panelling kits, following the success of its PaintReady stairparts late last year. Available in four styles, these feature a new water-based primer to deliver a “smoother faster finish to eliminate the need for sanding, filling, or priming”.
“PaintReady is doing very well for us. We’ve already had good repeat business and see it becoming a large revenue line for us,” said Mr Burbidge. “The range is going to staircase manufacturers, to RMI and the stair parts are about to go into DIY, where we’ve already launched the wall panel kits.”
West Port has developed a lower U-value fire door design.
“It’s something manufacturers have struggled with and we’re launching at the upcoming Fire Safety Event in Birmingham,” said Mr Newey.
The company, he added, has more developments planned for May and June and also continues to work on existing range enhancements, including aligning its products to revised Secure by Design principles. The focus is on future proofing products too, with a watching brief being kept on what, as yet, are just government proposals to move from BS476 Part 22 to the more rigorous EN1634-1.
Staircraft has introduced the use of LVL for stair components. “Proposed revision of Building Regs Part K, in line with Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents recommendations, is for staircases to get shallower and longer in future, so we’re introducing LVL for greater robustness and stiffness,” said Dr Whale. “It’s also primed using a process that provides a better paint finish.”
Given tightening Building Regulation Part L energy efficiency requirements, Staircraft is also starting metal web joist production to accommodate more service apertures for mechanical heat and ventilation systems. It is also developing a hybrid timber I-joist/ metal web joist and the design software to go with it.
“We are responding to timber frame growth too,” said Dr Whale. “As timber frame producers prefer to make everything in house, we’ve introduced a package of long length stock joists and the software for them to design their floors in-house. Taylor Wimpey is among our first customers.”
Allan Brothers is revamping its entire portfolio of timber windows and doors.
“They’re being optimised for greater energy efficiency, improved security, together with a slimmer traditional aesthetic,” said Mr Bach Valsted adding that the company had seen a complete ‘flip’ in its product ratio.
“Previously it was 68% casements and 32% vertical sliding sashes, but sliding sash orders have grown by 33%,” he said. “We put this down to fewer new builds and growth in domestic and commercial refurbishment.”
Gowercroft promises new door launches in the coming six months.
“We’re also continuing to develop our unique hybrid vacuum glazing product range to overcome a significant problem we’ve identified in the heritage market,” said Mr Madge. “Watch this space!”
All the producers interviewed have also undertaken significant capital investment. Gowercroft has spent £300,000 to double front end capacity.
“We grew turnover 300% from 2018 to 2023 and are targeting a 200% increase in the next couple of years,” said Mr Madge. “This investment is critical to set us up for that growth.”
The big investment news at West Port is installation of a bespoke German-made door assembly line with potential to double capacity.
“Our ambition is not necessarily to double output, but to use the capacity strategically,” said Mr Newey. “It gives us greater flexibility and increased production speed.”
Last year Allan Bros made its biggest investment for 15 years, spending a total of £2.6m. This saw installation of a £2.1m CNC window line, new cutting and moulder lines, plus new conveyors, roller tables and ancillary assembly shop equipment.
“It will make a massive difference to our overall output and speed of production, and make us more energy efficient,” said Mr Bach Valsted. “The aim is to deliver 20-25% growth in three years.”
Archwood has installed new Comec and Intorex CNC machines, one a drilling machine, the other a 9-axis machining centre. It has also invested a significant six-figure sum in an integrated enterprise resource planning IT system.
“This covers everything from materials purchasing to finished goods, with fully integrated invoicing and accounts,” said Mr Burbidge. “From the customer’s perspective it will make us slicker and able to come back to them more rapidly on key commercial metrics.”
Archwood has focused on environmental performance too, cutting scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions 66% – and as a consequence it has been shortlisted for three green business initiative awards.
Allan Bros has also focused on sustainability “through processes and supply chain” and has appointed a new member of staff to oversee the area.
Staircraft, meanwhile, has opened a brandnew two-line mouldings mill in Coventry, taking total factory space across three sites to 400,000ft2.
“We initially started mouldings production to supply our own requirements for stair and door kit parts,” said Dr Whale. “We also sold them to Travis Perkins and part of their rationale in acquiring Staircraft was to assure that supply. With the new factory, we’ll supply all their requirements.”
Their increased capacity and technical capabilities, say joinery producers, will set them up well for market improvement they see coming through the year into 2025.
Producers expect the election to have a consumer-mood enhancing effect and a new government, of any persuasion, to prioritise construction, with one predicting “significant market improvement”.
Mr Bach Valsted expects the market to remain competitive through 2024, but sees a lot of potential for growth at Allan Bros, especially in refurbishment.
Gowercroft is also “extremely positive about the outlook” and is ramping up production and expanding its team.
Dr Whale expects the construction majors to lobby any new government to drive housebuilding and says Staircraft has the latent capacity to meet increased demand, while Mr Burbidge says Archwood has plans for developing its customer mix with new products and for using the Richard Burbidge brand to “drive innovation in the market”.
Mr Newey also reports increasing activity among builder customers with West Port now getting “daily enquiries for new plots”.
“Recently we’ve been sitting tight, but we’ve used our time wisely to improve our offer,” he said. “Now the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter and brighter.”
