In a week which saw the global oil price crash, David Cameron set out his plan to curb immigration and absolutely ridiculous scenes from stores taking part in Black Friday sales events, it’s time to take a look back at the weeks posts on DGB.
Now, as you can immediately see, I am having a play around with the format of weekly reviews. Whilst I believe the old format worked, it was very text heavy and took a while to put together on a Friday evening. However, whilst I was putting in a ton of effort to put together these reviews, I couldn’t see the wood for the trees. I actually have a feature in this site which will compile a lot of the content for me in a couple of clicks! The layout of the reviews are going to be a little different, but with added images breaking up the text. I think it actually looks better! Please give me your feedback on the new look.
This week the most talked about posts were the two which discussed the six things our industry was doing wrong and the five things our industry was doing right. I wanted to highlight areas that I thought the industry was still struggling on. If we could eradicate those things we were doing wrong, I think we could go a long way to repairing a lot of the damage we have done to ourselves as an industry. But I also wanted to highlight some of the areas which I thought our industry was doing well in. I think the two posts complimented each other quite nicely. And if you’re wondering why I stopped at five things for the positive post, I simply ran out of ideas when I was writing it!
There was a couple of sponsored posts in the mix this week, a black composite doors post for Door Supermarket, which was apt given it was Black Friday when it went out, and a post from the guys at Purplex on behalf of TWR Bifolds.
I wrote about the internet on Friday and how it has changed our working lives. This was a post I had planned in the works for quite a while, and I finally got round to writing it up to post this week. Also, a post about concrete and ceramic doors I was desperate to publish on DGB. Anyway, enjoy the new weekly review. As always, all comments welcome!
May-July Builders Merchant Value Sales +8.5% Up On Previous 3 Months
The latest Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) report shows builders’ merchants’ value sales were down -0.4% in July compared to the same month in 2022, with volume falling -7.9% and prices up +8.1%. But the last three months, May to July, value sales were +8.5% higher than in February to April 2023. Nine of the twelve categories sold more this year than in July 2022. Renewables & Water Saving (+51.2%) continues its strong form, leading the field by a significant margin. Plumbing, Heating & Electrical (+14.0%), Decorating (+13.6%), Tools (+11.1%) and Kitchens & Bathrooms (+10.1%) all achieved double digit [...]
Deceuninck Cuts CO2 By 21%
Deceuninck has cut CO2 emissions from its operations down from 673,095 tonnes in 2021 to 530,836 tCO2e last year – a drop of 21%. At the forefront of innovation in sustainable PVC-U window and door systems technologies, this puts Deceuninck significantly ahead of its 2022 target. Made through the Science Based Targets carbon reduction scheme, it sits as part of Deceuninck’s pledge to cut CO2 emissions by 60% by 2030 from a 2021 baseline. “We have a long way to go, but the progress that we have made in lowering the carbon footprint of our operations is impressive”, said [...]
Deceuninck Double Short-Listing At G23
Deceuninck has been short-listed as a finalist in the Sustainability Initiative of the Year and Promotional Campaign of the Year categories at this year’s G-Awards. Deceuninck claimed the highly contended Sustainability Initiative of the Year at G22 in recognition of the commitments it has made to lower its operational impact on the environment through the corporate carbon reduction scheme, Science Based Targets. Since then, it has successfully lowered the carbon footprint of its operations by 21% compared to its 2021 baseline. Deceuninck has also committed to support fabricators and installers to become greener, launching the Deceuninck Energy and Carbon [...]
Edgetech In The Running For Two Prestigious Scale Up Awards
Edgetech, a proud part of the Quanex family, has earned the distinction of being named a finalist in the esteemed Scale Up Awards. The innovative firm has been recognised in both the Manufacturing Excellence and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) & Social Impact categories. Organised by Business Leader, one of Britain's premier business magazines, the Scale Up Awards aim to celebrate the achievements of the most dynamic companies in the country. Over five hundred entries were analysed by a panel of judges, with winners set to be announced at a glamorous gala dinner in November. Despite the challenges the [...]
Safestyle Trading Update Sends Shares Plunging
A new trading update published by Safestyle UK this morning has sent their share price tumbling further. This comes after a prolonged period of decline, which has now seen more than 96% of the value of the shares in the company wiped out since their all-time-highs in 2017. Safestyle UK trading update This is the new trading update, published this morning by the company: Performance update As reported in our half year trading update on 27 July, our numerous mitigation actions returned the business to profitability at the end of the first half despite reduced volumes in this more [...]
Guest Post: Does Seasonality Still Exist In Window And Door Sales?
Guest post from Mark Atkinson - Sales Director of Hurst Doors: I saw a lot of colleagues from right across the industry at the start of this month [Sept]. Among those I spoke to, there was a general sense of hopefulness that September, October and November would deliver sales – a cautious optimism. While you couldn’t exactly set your watch by it, pre-Covid, there was always a seasonality to window and door sales. Summer delivered slimmer pickings ahead of a more rewarding autumn. Covid of course, blew that away. For the past three years everyone has just been busy. [...]
Glazpart Shortlisted For Industry Award
Leading glazing component manufacturer Glazpart is delighted to announce that the Plastics Industry Awards (PIA) 2023 has shortlisted Glazpart’s product the Link Vent 4000 as a finalist for the award of “New Product of the Year”. On receiving the news, Dean Bradley, Glazpart Sales Director, commented, “All at Glazpart are thrilled with the news of this nomination which recognises and rewards the best of the entire plastics industry. Looking at the finalists, it’s clear there is some serious competition, so to be a finalist is an incredible achievement in its own right.” Last year Glazpart’s innovative Link Vent product [...]
