Anglian Windows closes Rochdale factory

March 5th, 2008 · 3 Comments

Anglian Windows closes Rochdale factory

There’s been quite a few rumours flying around recently about Anglian struggling. After the demise of Zenith / Staybright and various other double glazing companies - you’re always going to get gossip.

But, yesterday, I got information from a very well informed individual, that Anglian really are struggling. I’ll not go into detail, but the news surprised me really, as Anglian Group has always been a strong brand name in our marketplace.

Then today I find out that Anglian have closed their Lancashire factory with the loss of 165 jobs.

In an update to Anglian’s staff, Stig Hansen, managing director of Anglian Group’s manufacturing division, said: ‘Anglian Group in common with other companies in the sector, is currently experiencing a downturn in sales and profitability in its new build and other markets as a result of the prevailing economic climate.

‘It is therefore with regret that Anglian has today announced the closure of its Rochdale factory with the loss of 165 jobs. The company will commence a redundancy consultation process with the Rochdale workforce with immediate effect.

‘Prior to formalising the proposal to shut the Rochdale plant, the company also considered a number of other options to reduce manufacturing capacity including job losses in Norwich and a combination of job losses in both Rochdale and Norwich plants.’

Anglian are also trying to reduce costs in other areas, such as taking 100 of their fitting vans off the road.

I’ve got mixed feelings on this news. In some respects I’m quite happy about it because:

I have a competing double glazing company, so there is more business potentially for us

I feel that the industry needs to shed 5-10% of its capacity during the current restructuring

Anglian have been cutting their prices recently, which drives down margin for everyone

Anglian salespeople tend to be hard sell - a practice I’m keen for the double glazing industry to shed

Despite all the above, I also feel very sad about this news because:

Anglian is one of the few well known brands in our industry, so if they go bust, it will not be good PR for the industry as a whole

I feel for the 165 lost jobs in Rochdale and Norwich - very sad for the families concerned

Anglian will be a barometer for the industry, so if they’re struggling to sell conservatories, windows and doors - then everybody is

It’ll be interesting to see how Anglian performs in 2008.

Tags: upvc doors · upvc windows · double glazing · Uncategorized

3 responses so far ↓

1 Martin Troughton // Mar 10, 2008 at 12:24 pm

As the marketing director of Anglian Home Improvements I think you will find that rumours of our demise are very premature.

Like everyone in the industry we are finding the market challenging and are making adjustments accordingly but we are healthy and profitable.

Also your comment on us cutting prices is also wrong we will however remain competitive so you better watch out when pitching against us - a keen price, a great product and a strong brand make for stiff competition.
2 Renegade Conservatory Guy // Mar 10, 2008 at 1:14 pm

Hi Martin

Thank you for commenting. I agree these are challenging times.

It’s great news that Anglian are not cutting prices.

Our retail window company enjoys competing at similar prices to Anglian, and then the consumer has the choice of choosing a national company or a local company.
3 Anglian Home Improvements appear on BBC’s Watchdog programme // Apr 15, 2008 at 7:09 am

[…] surprised me was that about a month ago, I wrote a post about Anglian closing their Rochdale factory, and was delighted that Martin Troughton, the Marketing Director from Anglian visited my website […]

Renegade Conservatory Guy

Conservatory & Double Glazing Industry blog