According to data released by FENSA, 2013 was the first year to see full year-on-year growth since 2007, with growth of 4.5% compared to 2012. This will come as yet more welcome news as the industry continues to go from strength to strength in 2014.

December 2013 saw a massive jump of 25% in notifications compared to the previous December. October was flat according to FENSA and November saw a drop of 5.7%. This means the last quarter of the year saw a rise of 5.7%. 2013 saw an impressive 8 months of growth, compared to just 4 in the year previous:

  • April 2013 +11.3%
  • May 2013 +2.9%
  • June 2013 +12%
  • July 2013 +9.9%
  • August 2013 +5.5%
  • September 2013 +13.2%
  • October 2013 +0.5%
  • December 2013 +25.2%

“FENSA is very pleased to report these far more encouraging installation figures for our industry,” commented FENSA managing director, Chris Mayne. “Though we need to remember that installations are still well down on their highest point back in 2007, the industry is now going in the right direction which we fervently hope will continue through 2014. In these releases we refer back to pre-recession levels of notifications – but our focus is on the market as it is today and going forward.”

Just to put things into perspective, the number of recorded installations is still down by 27% compared to 2007. I think it will still be a couple of years before we return to pre-crisis levels of installations. A lot of damage was done by the recession but it is quite obvious now that we are well on the way to repairing that damage done.

If anyone was still doubting that the recovery was underway, then this should dispel that doubt quickly. I know that whilst trading is going well in the northern half of the UK at the moment, all is not well down south. So while business and installations may be subdued right now, I expect a very strong bounce back once the flood waters recede and the repair work can get under way. Given the extent of the flooding, I expect that repair work to be a massive task, and will probably cost billions, rather than hundreds of millions of pounds to put right.