Renegade Conservatory Guy

In the second of a series of interviews with key people from the double glazing industry, today we hear from one of the biggest names - Andy Jones.

Andy is the MD of Edgetech and has been at the forefront of the move towards Energy Rated windows in the market, with the phenominal growth of Super Spacer in the marketplace.

Edgetech have clearly had a strong marketing and PR campaign over the last few years, and strong growth.  What percentage of the spacer bar market do you feel Edgetech will achieve?

I truly believe that we can achieve 25% of the entire UK market place by 2010. At present the Warm Edge market has approximately 10% of the market of which Edgetech has the lion’s share. With planned changes in legislation and commercial pressures mounting on companies to achieve higher energy ratings I believe that 80% of the entire market will be using a Warm Edge spacer system of some description by 2012.

Do you really feel that by using Super Spacer, the double glazing industry could single-handedly save humankind?  No, but seriously, how much benefit does warm edge really have?

I have never claimed that Super Spacer can single handily save human kind but I do believe passionately that we all have a part to play in minimising the effects of global warming going forward. The reality of the situation is that a good warm edge spacer such as Super Spacer can affect the energy efficiency of a window by up to 11 points on the BFRC Energy rating scheme which is considerably more than any other component part of the window. Other metalised warm edge technologies have less of an effect but generally even the warm edges containing metal can increase the energy efficiency rating by a minimum of 3 points. Generally most of us only replace our windows once in our occupation of a dwelling so if we miss the opportunity to install energy efficient windows now the chance is potentially missed for the next 30 years. 

Is it true that for warm edge technology to really work then a separate weather seal needs to be fitted between the sealed unit and the frame to stop the free air transfer?

It’s true to say that for any window to be truly energy efficient it has to be air tight, which is not unique to warm edge technology. The BFRC scheme takes into account many things including the air tightness of the window.

Why did Andy Ball leave Edgetech, and how are you going to fill the gap?

Andy left Edgetech to join Synseal as Sales Director. Andy did a fantastic job for Edgetech over the past 18 months putting together two successful Glassex campaigns, the 360 Customer service initiative and the Dealer Network scheme., But I am sure that Andy will agree that he was part of a fantastic team that helped bring all of these things together and enhance Edgetech’s position of market leader for warm edge solutions. Unfortunately for Edgetech when any individual is given a platform to perform from and that individual does well, that individual then attracts the attention of outside companies wanting to emulate the success story. Andy has earned the right to the opportunity of arguably one of the largest sales jobs in the industry and I certainly believe that he will do a great job for Synseal. As for how will Edgetech fill the gap, the rest of the team is still in place. We have also recently added both Alan Fielder (National Sales Manager) ad Mel Jones (Southern Business Development Advisor) to that team who both bring a wealth of industry experience which puts Edgetech in an excellent position to achieve our considerable goals in the future.     

Other than Edgetech, which companies do you see growing strongly and profitably in the industry as a whole?

I think that forward thinking companies who view the challenges within our market as an opportunity to differentiate themselves from the competition will continue to do well. Many companies talk about battening down the hatches when times get difficult which may be one way of taking out some cost within the business. But if the market was bad yesterday and you’re not prepared to change today, why do you believe that it will be any better tomorrow? Opportunities such as energy ratings only tend to come around once in a life time and I think that companies who are early adopters of initiatives like this will be the ones that continue to thrive. I think it’s interesting that major companies such as Everest are now putting their considerable marketing power behind national TV advertising campaigns talking about A rated windows. I believe it is just a matter of time before one of the major refurbishment companies start to offer A rated windows as their standard offering, at which time the industry will be forced to react to compete. 

You have been at the forefront of the campaign to get 5% VAT on ER windows.  What do you feel are the underlying reasons why the government is reluctant to change its stance?

It’s quite simple, money! If the Government were to mandate that all windows that achieved C rated or above are eligible for 5% VAT rating and the market migrated to 100% C rated windows, it would cost the Government approximately £597 million in lost revenue. That’s why Edgetech have now taken their campaign to the next level which is the Europe commission. I still strongly urge everyone reading this to write to their MP by using our standard template letter which can be found on the Edgetech web site. Together as an industry we can make a difference!!

I notice you have booked Glassex again for next year.  Do you feel that Glassex should go biannual, as suggested by David White?

I personally think that if Glassex goes biannual that it would be to the detriment of the industry. Glassex is still the only UK based show to showcase the industry’s innovations. The last Glassex was my 22nd consecutive outing and I still strongly believe that there is an absolute requirement for a UK based show; after all if you are a visitor and come away from the show with one good idea of how to enhance your business then I think that is a day well spent.

Which football team do you support, and are they as good as Huddersfield Town?

I support the Baggies (West Bromwich Albion) who were recently promoted to the Premier Division which I think answers your question of “are they better than Huddersfield Town” :0)

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For more information about Edgetech please visit http://www.superspacer.co.uk/.

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I’ve been thinking quite a bit lately…

And the question that is occupying my mind at the moment is…. would a ‘How to run a Double Glazing Company’ website be useful?

I’m quite sure that I’m the only person in the world currently thinking of this, which could mean that there is no need for such a website.  If this is the case please try talk me out of it!

My thought process is thus:

It can be very lonely running a conservatory or double glazing business, especially for sole traders.  In my capacity as the MD of a national conservatory manufacturer, I regularly spend my time talking to and advising customers on how to run their businesses.  But I share bits of information with one business owner, and then not necessarily the same with the next business owner.

So, what I’m thinking is that I create a membership website for owners of double glazing companies (and their staff) and share all the knowledge I have gained over the years about how to build a succesful installation or manufacturing business.  The knowledge I could share would be:

• How to purchase products at the right prices (eg sealed units, silicone, conservatory roofs, advertising etc).
• How to price up conservatories and double glazing correctly to ensure profitability.
• How to advertise effectively using mediums such as TV, radio, internet, newspapers and so on.
• Reviews and podcasts about software products such as Window Designer, Vector or Adminbase.
• How to motivate sales teams, and how to improve conversion rates.
• How to manage installations effectively.
• The list goes on and on….

Crucially, I would make the site a ‘community resource’ so that there would be a discussion forum for members to talk to each other and share ideas.  And, the software would allow members to communicate with each other privately - imagine a Facebook for double glaziers!!

I would use Membergate to build the site as it is designed for exactly this type of website, and I am already familiar with the basics of how to use it, as we have built our ConservatoryTV.com website using Membergate.

We’re in a period of turbulence for business owners and their staff in the double glazing industry, and my thoughts are that if people work together to encourage best practices then individual businesses will prosper, and the industry as a whole.

However, my concern is that it may never take off for two main reasons:

• Most people in this industry are too apathetic and suspicious to get involved.
• Most business owners in this sector never go online anyway.

If you have a view on this, please let me know by posting a comment.

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Climbing the Google rankings for ‘conservatories’

I’m feeling quite chuffed with things today, as a lot of the hard work we have put into SEO for our Conservatory Outlet website is gradually taking effect.  We’re gradually getting more visitors each month to the site, and crucially the number of conservatory leads we are getting has been steadily rising.

Traditionally, we have always been strong with terms such as ‘conservatories yorkshire’, ‘conservatory company leeds’ or ‘upvc conservatories huddersfield’.  This is our core trading area, so it is important that we appear high on search engines for such terms.

I’ve always felt that a potential customer in huddersfield is likely to begin searching for:

• ‘Conservatories‘
• Then ‘conservatories yorkshire’
• Then ‘conservatories huddersfield yorkshire’
• Or even maybe ‘uPVC conservatories huddersfield yorkshire’

You get the picture, and there’s millions of these ‘long tail’ search terms we need to concentrate upon in our industry.

But more recently we have turned our attention on the main Conservatory Outlet site (and some of our other sites) to more competitive terms such as ‘conservatories’, ‘upvc windows’ and ‘double glazing’.

And it’s gradually improving if you see the position we are now getting for ‘conservatories‘:

A couple of months ago we’ve improved our position from page 5 on Google to page 1 - and now position 5 on the first page.  When you consider that the companies down the right hand side are paying around £3 per click then this is clearly a good place to be.  We’re also doing reasonably well for other terms such as ‘conservatory company’, ‘conservatory suppliers’ and so on.

I wrote a post about the best conservatory website in the world a few weeks ago, referring to the position of the ConservatoryLand website on Google, and you will see that they are still in P1.  Our challenge is to make sure our website dislodges ConservatoryLand as clearly that position makes a big difference.

So, how are we going to be top of Google?

Well, there’s no quick fix, but here’s just a few of the ways we’re going to push for higher rankings for ‘conservatories‘ and other key search terms, such as ‘double glazing’.

New website

The existing website is not as good as it could be.  It’s not very good to navigate, and I don’t feel that the user experience is good enough.  There’s probably too much technical information, and possibly not enough consumer friendly content.  Don’t get me wrong, we’re getting plenty of enquiries, but we could convert a better proportion of visitors to good enquiries.

So, we’ll have a newly rebuilt site within the next few weeks.  The site will have plenty of content that contains the important key search terms we are aiming for, especially within the titles of the web pages.

SEO

We have a search engine optimisation company advising on the rebuild of the site to ensure all the H1 tags, source code, and general terminology that I don’t fully understand, is correct and Google friendly.

The company, Blue Claw, are also building links to the main URL (and deep links to other pages) by submitting our site on relevant directories, and by submitting articles we have written on article websites, creating plenty of good links to our site from pages with specific related content.  Google looks at links as being votes for a website, the more good links you have to your site, the more Google likes your site and ranks it higher.

Blogs

We already post comments on existing relevant blogs, but as there are not many double glazing blogs out there we are creating our own blogs, which effectively act as micro sites.

They’re not great sites and the content is crap, but the key thing is that we are building links to our main site, and dealer sites.  Some examples are:

• uPVC double glazing blog
• uPVC windows blog
• Conservatory blog

Let’s face it, one of the main reasons for having the RCG website is to push links to our sites (you may have noticed!!)

Conservatory TV website

We have a website called ConservatoryTV which includes more general advice and information about conservatories.  We generate quite a few leads from this site, but crucially, there are plenty of links to the Conservatory Outlet site, and other dealers.  There’s a lot of video on this site which is all hosted on YouTube (with more links from there!)

Forums

We occasionally post on home improvement forums but this can be hard work.

PR

We have a PR guy, Iain McInnes, and he ensures that any news items and general press releases are submitted to the two main double glazing news resources - the Glazine and Fenestration News.  The press releases always carry a link to our website.

Buzz Marketing

This is the next stage of developing links and visitors to our double glazing websites.  I’ll tell you more about this as and when I know where we are going with this.

Conclusion

I’m just scratching at the surface of what is required for effective online marketing.  I probably shouldn’t be sharing this with other people from the double glazing industry, but I enjoy writing about this - so why not!  I’ll no doubt be keen to tell the world if, and when, we ever get to Number 1.

In the meantime, if you need any further advice on SEO and link building, please get in touch.

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The latest Plimsoll report is available and the press release reads as follows: 

Early Warning Signs for the UK Windows & Doors Market

At a time when even the most ambivalent are starting accept that a recession will hit the UK economy in 2008. A new study by industry analysts Plimsoll Publishing has looked at how the UK slow down is already impacting on Windows & Doors market.

The analysis, to be published on the 1st of May, has drawn on the very latest figures for each of the UK’s Top 1000 companies in the windows & doors market. The headline findings offer stark reading.

• Over a third of companies are already showing signs of recessionary behaviour, reporting declining sales. This is immediate evidence that the market is slowing down.
• Over half of companies have seen their margins fall. Of most concern, a third of these are currently running at a loss. The pressure on sales has forced an immediate squeeze on profitability. These companies are struggling against rising costs and declining sales.
• Over a quarter have seen an increase in their need for short term finance, a sign that costs are running ahead of cash flow. This is doubly dangerous at a time when Banks and financiers are looking hard at their loan books and therefore places these companies in an even more vulnerable position. 

As a result, as many as 1 in 6 Windows & Doors companies could disappear completely if this trend continues or deepens.

Explaining these results, David Pattison, senior analyst at Plimsoll, reports:

“We are reading every day how the credit market and the world of finance is been hit, but nonetheless I was still surprised to see just how much the Windows & Doors Market is feeling the pressure.  I hope this report is recognised as an early warning sign and managers read this and use the findings to steer a course though these tricky times.”

The analysis, is not entirely without some good news, some evidence that certain areas, particularly the small companies, with their concentration on local and domestic markets are less exposed to the slow down in the market.

I’ve got two main thoughts on this:

• Firstly, I think Plimsoll are around 6 months late with this analysis.
• Secondly, how are these statistics ‘early warning signs’.  Surely, we’re already deep within a window and door industry recession.

With bad news in the media every day about a housing price slump, credit crisis, and housebuilders struggling, then I’m afraid the sentiment of Plimsoll’s findings are correct. 

We’re all going to have to tighten our belts over the coming months.

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Edgetech VAT campaign for double glazing

Mark Warren from Lister Trade Frames sent the following letter to the Glazine about the Edgetech VAT campaign:

I was pleased to read last week that The Gl@zine and Edgetech have reinvigorated the VAT campaign. Last year with the number 10 petition and template MP letters, the campaign made real headway. But so much of our industry is apathetic.

I couldn’t believe that at last count some large fabricators and even some of our suppliers had only one or two names on the list. Now that the campaign is being reinvigorated, more of us need to get involved and make a difference. We need to stop being victims and make our industry better - it won’t happen by itself!

I have campaigned on this website previously for action from individuals, so understand entirely Mark’s frustration. Our conservatory company is and always has been in full support of Andy Jones’ efforts. I emailed all my contacts and made them all aware of the campaign. That email was responsible for at least 50 signatures of the 900 or so, that signed up. I also sent a letter to my local MP, and she sent letters to the relevant people.

I believe that virtually everyone in the industry supports the campaign, but apathy is the problem. For that reason, it’ll probably never happen!

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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:

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

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

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Double Glazing industry picks up

The word on the street is that sales are up!

It was a very poor start to the year for many fabricators and installers, mainly due to pretty poor sales in November and December. There were obviously a lot of casualties with Zenith / Staybright, Shepley Window Systems, Budget Windows, Pennine Windows, and My Planet just a handful of those going bust!

Our conservatory manufacturing business was well down in January compared to the year before, but February was pretty good, and March is looking excellent at the moment. In fact our Q3 results will be far better in 2008, than the equivalent in 2007.

Our conservatory installation company also had a very average January, but February has been one of the best months on record, mainly due to an effective TV campaign we have been running. March is also already looking excellent with customers keen to visit the showroom and place orders.

A number of our trade conservatory companies are also getting busier after the slow start. I’m not sure what has changed - whether it’s better weather, lower interest rates, or just that we’re excellent at selling conservatories and double glazing.

So forget everything I said in January!

What recession???

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UK window industry - we’re ahead of the rest of the world!!

I’m a big believer that the UK fenestration and glazing industry needs to rapidly improve it’s product range and service to the consumer. There’s challenging times ahead and those companies willing to try new things will succeed as a result.

Despite this, I still feel we’re light years ahead of the rest of the world!

A few things have happened at work this week that have made me think this way:

Firstly, I had a potential trade customer with a small window company in Tenerife get in touch with my company. My first thought was to fix up an appointment quickly, and get on the next plane out of here! The company supplies UK products to ex-pats who cannot purchase the type of quality windows, doors and conservatories they were used to in the UK. I was told that there are ‘major opportunities in Tenerife!’

Then we had an Anglo-German couple in our conservatory showroom last weekend. They were so keen for our sales rep to come and quote them for a P-Shape conservatory in Hamburg, that they were willing to pay for our guy to go over and quote - flights and all. Apparently, you just can’t get decent conservatories in Germany!

Finally, I stumbled upon a forum for expat Brits living in Australia, discussing double glazing down under. There were a number of people on the forum complaining about the standard of Australian windows, and comparing them unfavourably with the ones they had left behind! I once lived in Perth, Western Australia, and to be honest, I can’t remember much about Australian windows, other than they were as flimsy as the secondary glazing we get here.

And then in the US, the vogue is for English conservatories, and from what I hear there’s real opportunities for UK suppliers to sell product over there. Apparently, the product range in the US is simply not as good as those offered in the UK.

So maybe we shouldn’t beat ourselves up too much. What we need to do is make sure the British public understand how lucky they are to purchase Great British windows, doors and conservatories!!

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Window Industry in recession - will the interest rate cut make a difference?

It’s clear to me that even though the economy as a whole may not be quite in recession, our particular part of the economy is clearly in recession. According to the BBC website:

A technical definition of a recession is two successive quarters when the economy shrinks.

Well, the window industry has had 2-3 successive years of shrinking, and the outlook is for further shrinking over the coming years.

The latest quarter point cut in interest rates will help, but I feel it won’t make enough of a difference to our industry.

The latest AMA report into the replacement window and door market confirms the problem:

The UK market for replacement domestic doors and windows is facing major challenges in 2008. The market is large, but mature, and volumes are declining. As companies compete for business in a strongly price oriented market, major problems have resulted in substantial restructuring in 2007, as the market adjusts and consolidates.

The following table highlights the problem:

AMA predict things are unlikely to change in the short term:

The overall prospects for the replacement doors and windows market for 2008 remain downbeat, with a forecast decline of around 3%, reflecting a combination of market saturation, continued pressure on prices throughout the supply chain and the impact of the current credit crunch. In addition, the economy is set to slow down in 2008-09 and falling house prices are also likely to slow the market. In the medium term, some recovery may be achieved and the sector will offer growth prospects in some niche applications.

Individual companies can buck the trend by differentiating themselves from the rest, and offering either different products or a unique type of service. But for those wishing to manufacture and install ‘bog standard’ shiny white plastic windows things don’t look good. Conservatories have plugged the gap over the last 5 or 6 years, but even demand for conservatories in the UK is falling.

We need to work together to stimulate demand for our products. I feel that we need to create an organisation which has the primary goal of advertising and marketing the main selling points of our products:

Instead of Synseal, Pilkingtons and Joe Bloggs Window Company all sending different advertising messages to the consumer, why don’t we all consider putting money towards a central body which promotes the industry as a whole to the end user.

I predict that a £10m TV advertising campaign selling the benefits of replacement windows and doors to the consumer would have a dramatic effect on the graph above.

There are lots of problems we face as an industry, but I believe the main problem is simple - a lack of demand for what we are selling.

The problem is getting people who compete with each other to work together…

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Masterframe sash windows – flying the flag for UPVC vertical sliders

A few days ago, I had a real double glazing ‘A’ lister on my website – Alan Burgess , the MD of Masterframe Windows – and he placed a comment about my appraisal of the TimberWindows.com website.

Well, he encouraged me to take a look at his websites, and I decided to give him (and you) my thoughts:

Masterframe Website

This is clearly the main Masterframe website and is designed to appeal to the trade – installers, fabricators, builders and specifiers. I assume the site will also get a fair few consumers as well and has a Homeowners section.

The Home Page has a clean and fresh feel with clear links to the main parts of the website. I like the title at the top of the page:

Specialist manufacturers of PVCu Vertical Sliding Box Sash windows … it’s all we make!

There’s clear directions from the Home Page to the Photo Gallery, Technical detail, and the different ranges of products they sell – such as the Bygone Collection, the Classic Collection etc.

At first I wasn’t sure about this statement:

Let us start by stating, we are all about best value for you, our client and that we are probably the most expensive manufacturer of PVCu sliding sash windows in the UK…

This is a brave statement, a bit like Stella Artois suggesting they are reassuringly expensive. I can see that Alan is keen to imply that Masterframe sash windows are the best, and priced accordingly. I’m sure this policy can work for such a niche product – I wish I could get away with stating the same for standard casement PVCu windows!

I’ve had a good look around the website, and feel there is everything I need to know about sash windows there to look at – pictures, technical stuff, the option to receive a buyer’s guide, and detail directed at the main targets – builders, specifiers, fabricators and installers.

By reading the text, I was left feeling that Masterframe Windows is an honest company – if you give them a ring, you’ll get a straight answer. I’m not sure if that is the case, but the website gives that feeling.

I would expect that this website gets a good amount of traffic from consumers, and I’m not sure if this is something the company wishes to promote. I’m aware that they have a separate consumer website, which I will appraise in a minute. But if they did wish to generate more leads from the website for their dealer base, I feel a concerted effort towards SEO would pay dividends.

For example, the header titles all state ‘Masterframe – Manufacturers of high quality UPVC sliding box sash windows’. I feel varying the titles slightly will improve the search results. For example, why not have a page titled ‘Masterframe – installers of PVC sliding sash windows in the UK’. The website is not currently on the front page of Google for ‘PVC sash windows’, whereas the site appears in 3rd place for ‘uPVC sash windows’. I would also target terms such as ‘sash windows London,’ and other key geographical areas, as such long-tail terms are more likely to be purchasers.

Clearly the site works well on Google, but I feel the website has quality content, and deserves to appear higher.

I have two further suggestions. Firstly, I was interested in seeing what you factory looked like? Some pictures of the machinery, and the craftsmen working would have interested me. Secondly, a bit of video footage about how the windows open, how they are installed and so on, would be of interest.

Bygone Collection website

The Bygone Collection website is very similar to the Masterframe website, which makes sense as there is continuity, and I would assume both sites are easy to maintain and update this way. As the site is designed for the homeowner there is less technical detail and more selling points for the consumer.

I like the link on the Home Page – worried about your carbon footprint? – which takes you to the detail about their Energy Rated Sash Window – the first in the UK!

I liked the Find an Installer section as I was interested to find out which companies installed Masterframe sash windows in my area. It was a bit difficult to find the section though, so I think this could be given a higher priority.

Most of my comments about the main site apply here, and the overall feel from the website is that choosing the Bygone Collection from Masterframe would be a sensible investment.

I noticed that Masterframe are investing in Google Adwords (Pay Per Click advertising) to ensure that the website is top for certain key phrases such as ‘sash windows’. This is very sensible, but like the Masterframe website, I feel a concerted effort of SEO and link building could make this website appear at the top anyway. I suppose the perfect result would be to have the two websites in the top two positions on Google.

Conclusion

I look after a few websites myself, and I know how difficult it is to get things 100% right. In most respects, I would say Alan is doing a far better job with his websites, than I am with my own! If I appraised my own websites at the moment, I’d be incredibly critical.

Finally, I’m aware of the real success Masterframe is having in one of the few niche markets within the double glazing industry and for that end I am full of admiration.

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