Despite the positive sounds being chimed by the industry at the moment, times will still remain tough in some parts as is currently being demonstrated in Pembrokeshire, Wales as the fate of Cambrian Windows is in the balance.
The owners of the company have started a 90 day consultation period in which they will seek to try and save the business and the 120 people it employs. They have blamed the difficulties on the fact that since 2007, demand for new PVC windows has halved. Something I think we can all agree with as the buying public has sought to reign in spending while the worst of the recession hit the UK.
I think we are about to enter a very crucial phase of the economic recovery. Those that have positioned themselves well to take advantage of the upturn, those that cut their cloth as and when they had to, stand to do very well. However, those that are running fat businesses that needed trimming down during the recession that haven’t, will suddenly find that the adaptable businesses who did make the required changes, will make the most. So much so, that it will force others that are teetering on the edge will be pushed over into bankruptcy. Not a nice situation but this is business and the strongest and most agile companies will do the best and make the most cash. Simple as that.
I really do hope that in the next 90 days the bosses at Cambrian Windows find a way to keep the business and it’s employees in work. No one likes to see a company have to close it’s doors and make people redundant, especially when jobs are so hard to come by.
Any more new info on this will be posted here as and when I can get it. You can see a BBC news report on the story here:Â http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-21506483
It’s sad to see companies in our industry like Cambrian get in to difficulties. It certainly is tough at the moment and we have just seen yet another local company close its doors leaving a competitor fabricator with substantial losses. However… the actual drop in window sales compared to 2007 is one third not one half. I know this is little comfort to those struggling as it underlines the fact that our industry is still shrinking and over supplied. And until the consumer feels more confident to start investing again in their properties it is likely to remain such. The… Read more »
We are cambrian customers and it would be a shame to see them go, but having 3 factories close toghether manufacturing the same product could only go on so long. Surely moving it all to on site would be the way to go.
Premier and Griffin are only 20 miles apart but Cambrian are another 85 miles further west – a loooooong way away from the border… If you think about the logistical problems they must have incurred trying to service their customer base in the east and south of England, you can see it makes sense to try and consolidate. Shame about the factory though, it’s supposed to be state of the art compared to the other two.
Cambrian are part of a very large organisation MASCO, who also own Duraflex, teh largest profile extruder in UK. Masco’s factories we understand have the capacity to produce 2,000 frames a week. It is very sad for the 120 employees in Pembroke where there is little alternative employment, but it is what happens frequently when a large corporation buys into a market. Duraflex look very sound, but until they were bought by Masco, they changed hands many times in a few years. As we predicted at the start of the year this year is going to challenging. We cannot see… Read more »
The window group produces over 10k frames per week not 2k.
What they need to do is move it all to kent. They have a few customers down this way and i could go and collect my orders. About time we had a large duraflex manufacturer in this part of the country
Give window tech trade a call in Romford ask for bob he makes a quality duraflex window and services Kent.
Have heard their name recently, think one of our competitors uses them. Will look into it. Thanks
Duraflex, largest extruder in UK? I don’t think so…….
Dont they extrude for themselves (10’00 frames), Everest, and Safestyle, plus an external customer base of third party fabricators………………….must be pretty big.