It is very difficult to believe that we are already into September. The kids are going back to school, Halloween isn’t that far away and even Christmas is now being considered by a few people. But before we get ahead of ourselves and start looking forward to putting our feet up at the end of the year, it’s time we took a minute or two to review the month of August in UK fenestration.
Usually a sleepy part of summer
Generally speaking, August is the month in which the country seems to meander somewhat. It is the height of the British summer, if there is such a thing, and families go off and do their own thing while the kids aren’t at school.
The knock on effect of this for business is that things tend to drift along a little bit without much direction. That’s not to say no business does actually get done, but the energy and zip that the first half of the year has generally disappears.
I would say that this was about right once again. It was by no means a dead month for our industry, but there was a definite lull as home owners took time to go on holiday, spend time with the kids and make the most of the few weeks while they were off.
At our place, we had a decent month in terms of sales and leads. Both were steady. But you could most certainly tell it was the summer holidays though. I would mention though that during the last week of the month there definitely was some uptick. Even my morning commute was longer than normal as people started to go back to their general work routines.
All quiet on the news front
It was a fairly quiet month in terms of industry news too. You can even see this in the wider news and media coverage. Parliament is out for Summer recess, which leaves little to talk about politically. The same goes for business and the wider economy.
However, there was one significant industry deal announced right at the very start of the month, when it was revealed Sweden-based Inwido acquired major fabricator CWG for ÂŁ11.6m. You can read about that story here.
That deal rounded off a frantic run of glazing industry deals which followed the results of the EU referendum. It was well known that there were a number of deals on hold until the effects of the poll, and the results, were known. The world did not end, despite some dire predictions, and the floodgates opened on those deals in which we saw a period of M&A like no other seen in recent times in our sector.
After the Inwido deal though, things calmed down and the rumour mill slowed. At present there doesn’t look to be any more deals to be done. However, as we near the end of the year, that position could change. There’s still plenty of potential for mergers and acquisitions still.
DGB
As always I like to take a look at how DGB performed during the month, comparing it to the same period a year previously. So here is how it did in August this year compared to August last year:
I’m really happy with the figures for August on the whole. 20% rises in Visitors and Unique Visitors this month compared to the same month last year is really solid growth and puts DGB on course to smash all-time Visitor and Unique Visitor records well before the end of the year.
Page views were just a nudge down on August 2015, but was the best month for page views this year since May, so I’m happy about that. The recovery from the annual mid-year slump continues.
A look towards September
As we enter September, we also see the start of the silly season. The time of year where home owners who have put off purchasing new windows and doors for most of the year finally move into action in the hopes they can have them installed before Christmas. This is generally the busiest period for installation and fabrication companies as they work hard to meet increased demand.
We can expect a sharp rise in industry activity across all levels throughout the next month, and many installers will be hoping to sign up enough work to last them until the end of the year.
So, happy hunting!
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