DEMPSEY DYER MARKS 40 YEARS AT THE TOP

For decades, it’s led the way in premium-quality timber and uPVC windows and doors, bringing a commitment to quality, craftsmanship and exceptional customer service to customers around the country – and now Pontefract fabricator Dempsey Dyer is turning 40.

Founded in 1977 by brothers Tom and Bob Dyer, the business began life as a Yorkshire joinery, producing timber doors and windows for local installers. It wasn’t long before the company diversified, however, beginning to offer uPVC products alongside its established timber portfolio. By 1984, it had switched its uPVC supplier to Deceuninck – laying the foundations of a close, mutually beneficial relationship that’s endured to the present day.

In 2017, Dempsey Dyer isn’t just a well-regarded fabricator with an unparalleled range of uPVC, timber and composite window and door products – it’s one of the industry’s most respected brands. Its market-leading timber range places emphasis on sustainability, using ethically sourced hardwoods and following a ‘Durability by Design’ philosophy that aims to ensure products are operating at their peak for decades, not years.

Its Deceuninck offering, comprising both the 2500 and 2800 series profile systems, is one of the most extensive in the industry – and with the Beaumont, the firm marries its decades of expertise in both timber and uPVC to produce an incredibly authentic, energy efficient composite window that delivers traditional aesthetics with very modern performance.

“We’re extremely proud of our history as a long-standing, family-run business at a time when that’s becoming increasingly rare,” commented Managing Director Peter Dyer, son of co-founder Tom. “We combine traditional values with innovative, modern manufacturing – a commitment to quality, durability, and forging strong partnerships with our valued customers with environmental responsibility.”

“We’re delighted to be celebrating forty years in business – especially as we enjoy one of the busiest, most successful periods in our history. Inevitably, the future will bring its changes and challenges that need to be overcome. But going forward, our focus will be the same as its always been – on producing the best, highest quality products we possibly can, offering our customers the widest choice we possibly can, and providing doing our utmost to help installers win more business and grow.”

For more information call 01977 649641 or visit www.dempseydyer.co.uk

Professor Noble Francis

Construction output is expected to grow by 0.8% in 2017, 0.7% in 2018 and 2.2% in 2019 according to the latest forecasts by the Construction Products Association (CPA). Whilst the forecast shows that the industry will maintain its post-referendum momentum, it also masks a considerable variation in fortunes across the key construction sectors.

In particular, growth to 2019 is expected to be primarily driven by a 28.0% increase in infrastructure activity and a 6.1% increase in private house building, which would offset expected falls in commercial and industrial construction.

Noble Francis, economics director at the Construction Products Association, said: “Near-term prospects for construction appear bright with industry growth boosted by several new billion pound infrastructure projects across the country such as the Thames Tideway Tunnel, HS2 and Hinkley Point C and the government’s £23 billion National Productivity Investment Fund. A rise in infrastructure output is expected to ensure positive growth for the construction industry overall if the government can ensure it delivers on its announcements.”

House building is also expected to remain a key source of output growth, with private house building starts rising at 2.0% per year between 2017 and 2019. Noble Francis commented: “Construction industry prospects should also be boosted by a positive outlook from major house builders, who appear willing to increase supply as they take advantage of rising house prices in an undersupplied market. The exception to this is the high-profile niche of prime residential in central London, where there is already an oversupply of properties and sharply falling prices, which we expect to persist over the next 12-18 months.

“Substantial risks to growth remain however as the fall in the value of Sterling is leading to increased import and raw materials costs. On the demand side, whilst the uncertainty post-Referendum has not impacted activity on site as yet, it appears to be affecting areas that require high upfront investment for a long-term rate of return such as commercial offices and industrial factories. Both have seen new contract awards fall and this is likely to feed through into falls in sector activity from the second half of this 2017.

“Despite these concerns, infrastructure and private housing are anticipated to ensure that the construction industry grows between 2017 and 2019, providing an extra £5.3 billion of economic activity for the construction industry and wider UK economy.”

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Endurance Doors’ Stephen Nadin

Composite door manufacturer, Endurance Doors, reports that it has received a record number of trade enquiries over the last five months.

Endurance says it has enjoyed an influx of more than 200 firm trade enquiries from companies ‘looking for a better performing entrance door’. Several of these enquiries have been for the flagship Endurance Plus product which boasts a 75mm triple seal door frame, Secured by Design as standard and premium hardware features.

Endurance says it will be looking to invest in all aspects of the business during the course of the year, which will also include several new product developments and a further extension to its marketing programme for lead generation.

Stephen Nadin, managing director of Endurance Doors, commented: “With record levels of trade enquires coming in, we fully expect to achieve our bold sales forecasts this year, which should again result in us cementing our position as the fastest growing company in the sector. Further product developments are already planned, while we will be supporting our customers with even more pre-qualified leads as our marketing programme looks set to intensify.”

www.endurancedoors.co.uk

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Image Above: Morley Glass & Glazing managing director, Ian Short

Morley Glass & Glazing is celebrating a successful start to 2017 following an exciting 12 months at the company that included relocating to a new site, enabling the business to start work on a new showroom and increase production volumes in its best-selling products.

The £1m move to the new 50,000sq ft premises in July last year enabled the business to effectively double its production capacity and, just six months later, Morley Glass and Glazing is already reporting a 30% increase in order volume for its popular Uni Blinds® sealed units with ScreenLine® integral blinds inside.

Currently, the business is adding the finishing touches to a state-of-the-art showroom, located on-site, which will offer Morley’s clients a unique opportunity to get hands on with a number of the company’s products, and find out more about the benefits they offer.

Ian Short, managing director at Morley Glass, said: “Our hope when we moved to the new premises was that it would allow us to work more efficiently, as well as invest in new machinery and take on more staff. There has been a lot of upheaval and change at the business over the last year but seeing the kind of results we are now achieving makes it all worthwhile.

“We are now looking forward to what the next 12 months will hold for the business, including the introduction of exclusive new ScreenLine® products, and I feel confident that we are on track to easily achieve the same kind of growth throughout 2017.”

The only UK supplier of integral blinds to have dedicated customer support engineers on the road, Morley Glass & Glazing has recently added four vehicles to its fleet, as well as welcoming five new members of staff.

The business has achieved all this and more while ensuring it is still able to provide the widest choice of integral blinds in double and triple glazed units, with all manual, solar and motorised versions available in the industry’s shortest lead-time of 10 days from any Friday.

Find out more about Morley Glass & Glazing at www.morleyglass.co.uk

SterlingOSB, one of the most versatile wood panel boards on the market, is a common sight in the building trade and is now becoming a popular as a fashionable panel for the designer home.

For Dorset-based specialist contractor, Doors, Locks & Glass, SterlingOSB is an indispensable product. The company specialises in emergency boarding-up, most often in the aftermath of a burglary of vandalism, and SterlingOSB is the ideal solution, says company owner, Graham Bird.

“We’ve been specialising in this area for the past 15 years and, to begin with, we used plywood,” he says. “But as soon as we discovered OSB, we switched and we’ve never gone back,” adds Graham.

“SterlingOSB is just as strong and durable as plywood and it’s better to work with. With plywood, you always get splinters when you cut it  but you don’t have this problem with OSB,” he explains. “We use 9mm SterlingOSB. Two layers of this are perfect for boarding up 20mm double-glazed units. The two thicknesses fit exactly into the reveal and then it’s just a case of replacing the beading; and it’s more secure than glass.”

Similarly, Graham finds that SterlingOSB has the strength and rigidity to temporarily replace damaged glass in most patio doors: “It’s rigid enough to hold the door in line and, once in place, the door can be opened and closed again with no problem. When we started using SterlingOSB, we discovered that it was as strong and reliable as the more expensive plywood,” comments Graham. He continues: “Boarding up is usually a temporary repair but we’ve also boarded up properties that have remained empty for years. If the SterlingOSB is painted over with a primer and undercoat, it seems to last forever.” Graham cites the back door of a pizza restaurant in Southampton that he boarded up 11 years ago following a burglary: “They didn’t bother replacing the glass – they just painted the whole door white. It’s still there today,” he says.

“We’re the only specialist in Dorset because it’s such a low-crime area. In Southampton, there is a couple more companies operating and there are three in Devon & Cornwall because it’s such a big area. Nevertheless, we still get through up to 15 sheets of SterlingOSB a week – and often more during the period from November to January when burglaries tend to peak,” says Graham.

For further information, call 01786 812 921 or visit www.norbord.co.uk.

Robert Palmer

A new report from Palmer Market Research suggests the composite door sector will see ‘significant growth’ through to 2020.

Findings reveal that the market for entrance doors grew by 2.2% to 1.40million doors in 2015. Installed value was also up 7.6% at £692 million.

According, to The Market for Domestic Entrance Doors, composite doors now account for 50% of the market, the share rising to 54% by installed value with the inclusion of PVC/ABS faced doors.

PVC-U panel doors took 25% of the market in both installed value and volume terms, while wood (including engineered timber) took 20% by volume and 15% by installed value. Steel fell to just 46,000 doors.

The study suggests that forecast figures for last year should also be expected to show a modest overall increase in volume. It is less sanguine about fortunes this year, however, in the face of Brexit.

Although The Market for Domestic Entrance Doors suggests only a minimal impact on the home improvement and social sectors, the report’s authors warn the impact of Brexit may be felt acutely in new build.

It states: ‘The main change is that we believe house prices in general, and new build properties in particular, will slow and even go modestly negative during the Brexit negotiations (2017 and 2018) as uncertainty in the wider economy prevails. And it is on a rising housing market that housebuilders are spurred to increase supply.’

This aside, The Market for Domestic Entrance Doors predicts that in its entirety, the door market will remain ‘almost static’ for the next five years. Within it, there are however, significant gains and losses. Most notably a forecast 22% increase in composite door sales through to 2020.

Robert Palmer, Palmer Market Research, said: “Overall our forecast is for an almost static market for entrance doors over the next five years. Growth in home improvements will be offset by declines in both new build housing and social housing refurbishment.

“We are, however, forecasting significant differences in trends between door leaf materials.

“Composites have grown their share of the market over the past 15 years both in volume and value terms – and will continue to do so through to at least 2020 when they will be close to two thirds of the market.”

The findings follow Palmer’s publication of The Window, Door and Conservatory Markets in Housing in Great Britain, last autumn.

This argues that a flattening of the market in 2015 saw total volume fall by 0.7%. This was, however, offset by a shift towards higher-end products and higher value installations, which delivered a 2% increase in installed value to £4.20 billion.

Palmer continued: “Consistent with other areas of the window and door industry, some products are seeing growth, others are going into decline.

“This is variable by market but also notably, material type within those markets. For some we’re reporting a 41% drop in volume by 2020, others as much as a 56% increase in volume over the same period.

“This and continuing product innovation makes the entrance door market complex but an area of the window and door industry which in common with others, represents sizeable areas of opportunity.”

www.palmermarketresearch.co.uk

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The construction industry has started 2017 strongly, with an increase in activity levels as the value of new building contracts awarded in January reached £6 billion, spearheaded by strong figures from the housebuilding sector.

According to the latest edition of the Economic & Construction Market Review from industry analysts Barbour ABI, housing figures increased sharply across January (see figure 1.1), with construction contract value reaching £2.7 billion, a massive 83 per cent increase compared with January 2016. 

Of all the type of projects across housebuilding, it was private housing that dominated in January with 91 per cent of the total construction contract value in January, compared to just 66 per cent a year ago. Market conditions for private housing were also favourable for housebuilders in 2016, with Crest Nicholson recently reporting a 27 per cent increase in full year profits.

There are also currently £5.8 billion worth of housebuilding contracts that are nearing award status, suggesting this month’s growth is likely to continue over the next few months and beyond.

London unsurprisingly led all regions based on total construction contract value in January, accounting for 26 per cent. This was helped greatly by the £900 million One Nine Elms Twin Towers development, the largest project recorded on the month.

Commenting on the figures, Michael Dall, lead economist at Barbour ABI, said: “Whilst the housebuilding sector is performing admirably, we expect to see its growth continue to flourish across 2017. However, other sectors now need to start producing more auspicious figures, such as the commercial & retail sector, which saw a year-on-year decrease of 40 per cent last month. Infrastructure, another traditionally big performing sector, is also in a slump with January figures being the lowest for 12 months.”

“On the positive side, the number of projects awarded in January jumped by 50 per cent compared with December and 25 per cent when looking at January last year. These figures are encouraging and would suggest that work is most certainly on the way.”

www.barbour-abi.com