UK WPC decking brand Composite Prime is now in its sixth year and according to sales director Charles Taylor the pace of growth continues unabated.
Strong sales through the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as new products and colour options and an expected greater push into the fencing and cladding sectors ensure business will continue to be busy for the company, started by Mr Taylor and co-founder Dom Harrison.
The combination of Mr Taylor’s timber industry background (Taylor’s Timber Centre) and Mr Harrison’s plastics industry experience (his father founded and floated the plastics giant Polypipe plc) has created a strong combination, which has seen Composite Prime become a leading player in the WPC market, with more than 450 stocking depots across the UK, including at Travis Perkins, Arnold Laver, Taylor Maxwell, Buildbase and many independent merchants.
Mr Taylor said a further major stockist would be announced shortly.
“We are experiencing growth of around 100% every year and from the data we can also see that our stockists are growing their composites business significantly every year,” said Mr Taylor.
Composite Prime has a distribution structure whereby all products are sold through its distributors and stockists – it doesn’t sell direct to the market itself but keeps to its manufacturing role while giving stockists support through its stockist locator web portal and provision of point-of-sale materials, samples and marketing and training support.
WPC SALES BOOSTED DURING PANDEMIC
While the Covid-19 pandemic may have hit demand severely in different industries, the stay at home orders and mass furloughing of workers led to a huge consumer investment trend in gardens.
“When the first Covid-19 lockdown started we had plenty of stock on the ground,” recalls Mr Taylor.
“The biggest challenge for us was our sample request going up 600% almost overnight as soon as lockdown happened. And we had fantastic summer weather as well, so demand was huge, although there were not enough landscapers to go around.
“There was confusion at the beginning when the stockists were shut and we were trying to connect consumers, landscapers and contractors with stockists. We had to ring our stockists to make sure they were open. That was a challenge.
“We thought the season would die off in September but it continued right through to December and then as soon as we got back in January it has gone crazy.
“Our January samples requests were up 300% on last year, and 400% in February, and of course that compares to pre-Covid levels last year.”
The demand, he says, stems from people wanting lower maintenance outdoor areas that they can enjoy rather than spend time working on them.
“Gone are the days when people would spend hours and hours tinkering with the garden, I think they just want to enjoy a gin and tonic in it and a barbecue with friends.
“We’ve seen massive interest from consumers investing in outdoor areas such as outdoor kitchens and covered up areas. It’s become more of a trend to make an extra room. And people are spending a bit more money as well – including people that have previously had a softwood deck they had to maintain every year.”
Composite Prime reports strong business in the caravans and lodges sectors, the former switching out of uPVC products due to WPC’s superior aesthetics, with the latter needing a product more in keeping with their eco surroundings.
Meanwhile, housebuilders are increasingly offering WPC as an option in the same way as they do with granite worktops.
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Composite Prime’s products are manufactured in China and feature 60% FSC-certified hardwood wood flour, 35% recycled HDPE (basically recycled milk bottle tops) and 5% UV prohibitor and binding agents.
“We’ve used the equivalent of 160 million plastic milk bottles so far – that’s one of the big drivers of composites, not just because of the low maintenance and aesthetics but also due to the eco-credentials,” said Mr Taylor.
All its products feature a hollow profile, with some featuring a capped surface for extra protection and several having a woodgrain pattern.
The diverse range includes HD Dual, which Mr Taylor describes as a “game changer” in the market due to it being a two-colour reversible board.
“This allows stockists to halve their stock [by not having to stock separate coloured boards] and have double the chance of selling it.
“The installers are being a bit more creative as the reverse side is usually an alternative colour, so they can do borders in the other colour as a contrast, just like in hard landscaping.”
A new HD Dual colour option is Natural Oak / Slate – adding to the two existing Dual options – Walnut / Oak and Antique / Carbon.
The Slate is a dark grey, which feeds into the popularity of grey colours for WPC decks, while the Natural Oak is matched to American white oak.
“A lot of the trends we are seeing is mixing grey and brown together for a contrast.”
Mr Taylor estimated 90% of overall sales were for grey products.
When the pandemic hit last year, Composite Prime was testing the water with a new product HD Deck Pro – a 200mm wide capped board with a woodgrain look in two colours, Champagne and Oyster.
“The uptake was so big that we ran out of stock almost immediately. But this year we are ready for the demand.”
Then there is HD Deck 3D – an uncapped board featuring a deeply textured woodgrain finish and made with a colour fusion technology so every board is a slightly different colour, similar to natural wood. The mid-priced product is 146mm wide.
HD Deck XS (Extra Strong) is a contemporary looking product that has different grooving designs (contemporary thin / wide groove) on each side. This board and HD Deck 150 (150mm wide product) are both available as a Class B Fire Rated board, seen as ideal for contractors to use on balconies, verandahs and roof terraces.
One of the newest additions is HD Protect tape – a protective tape applied to the top of softwood joist bearers. This is something that is seeing widespread application in the US.
HD Protect is a HDPE/butyl tape available in 63mm x 20m long rolls.
“Your average joists are 45m wide, so the tape creates a bit of an overlap/umbrella effect so the water actually drips past the timber and gives that extra level of protection.”
Six rolls would be required for an average composite deck, costing a extra few hundred pounds in total to project cost, which is still far cheaper than installing composite joists.
Samples have been sent to installers, with a big marketing campaign starting in the spring.
WPC CLADDING AND FENCING
Composite Prime is predicting a growth in cladding and fencing applications for its composite products.
Last year it launched HD Clad Pro – its woodgrain cladding product in four colours including a cedar brown and cedar grey to fulfil demand for the new and weathered western red cedar cladding look.
Recently, 330m2 of HD Clad Pro was installed at Wexham Park Golf Centre’s new driving range. The project, led by RB Structures, used Pontrilas Merchants to supply the product.
“We’re seeing it going into a lot of garden offices,” added Mr Taylor. “Also, we’re seeing demand in shops and retail outlets, fencing and anybody that wants to cover up an old breeze block wall.
“It’s also great for dormer roofs for the new build sector where it is replacing uPVC cladding. The good thing from a timber merchant perspective is where they would have lost timber cladding business to uPVC years ago, they now have an option for customers who want that timber look but with low maintenance.”
Mr Taylor said the WPC fencing market was growing “massively” in Europe.
“We knew it would be a slow burn here because the retail price on a composite fence with a post can be anything up to £200 for a 1.8m bay. It’s not a mass market product. But people who have installed a composite deck are seeing they need to do something with the fence.”
EDUCATION
Educating installers and stockists about the product is key, Composite Prime says.
Fitting a composite deck is slightly different than a timber deck, with a clip installation system and different joint centres.
“We launched our Pro installer network last year and invite all our stockists to tell their customers that regular installers of the product can become a Pro installer,” said Mr Taylor. “We give them lead generation, online training, and put them on our stockist locator because we get a lot of consumers contact us about supply and fit.”
Composite Prime has had 500 installer applications so far.
“Every stockist we take on we insist they do training so they know the basic principles of the product and how to sell it in the right way.”
A Rewards scheme gives regular prizes to installers, stockists and consumers.
“We are expecting an extremely busy year. People know that they are unlikely to go on holiday this year unless it is late summer. Consumers have got money in their pockets to spend on home improvements. I think restaurants will be investing in outdoor spaces. Even if the country takes a few backward steps [in the pandemic] I think there will still be a lot of trade outdoors.”
