Renegade Conservatory Guy

In the first of a series of interviews with key individuals from the double glazing industry, below is an exclusive with Nick Dutton, the face of Synseal and the guy responsible for the rapid growth of the company over the last decade.

 • There have been a number of high profile casualties in the industry over the last few months.  How do you see the rest of this year panning out for the double glazing industry?

There has undoubtedly been a lot of turbulence. And I’m not sure we are out of it yet. Albeit that is not necessarily a bad thing, the over supply in this market needs a correction and it is happening. Supply and demand will always find its natural equilibrium.

• With increases in fuel and raw material costs, and a reduction in demand from consumers, which part of the supply chain is being squeezed the most?

Costs are increasing in every aspect of life and business, and aren’t letting up. I don’t think that you can be quite as general to say that one part of the market particularly is being squeezed. I am concerned for companies at all levels that show a reluctance to pass on the cost increases.

• What do you see as the medium to long term outlook for Synseal, and the industry as a whole?

The market is polarising on a daily basis. Synseal is arguably in the strongest position of all the profile suppliers. Firstly, we are profitable. Secondly, we solely supply to the UK so we can’t decide to ‘close the UK operation down and go back to where the money is easier’. And thirdly we concentrate purely on one industry, so we can’t decide to ‘go back to core’! Couple these points with our independent status and the ability to move quickly as the market moves, the medium to long term outlook for Synseal looks great – especially with the polarisation.

• Have you found that Ultraframe has become a stronger competitor for Synseal under new ownership?

There doesn’t appear to be much change.

• Do you think there will ever be 5% VAT on Energy Efficient Windows?

I believe so. The shift to green is so dramatic it has become cool! Synseal will continue with its 5 per cent VAT campaign. We believe the government will have to act upon the grounds of equality. How can the government allow a situation to continue where they allow the benefit to almost every other aspect of the property if it is thermally efficient, but not windows?

• Why have you chosen to establish a separate company for the manufacture of composite doors?

Composite doors have enormous potential in our industry.  Setting up Door-Stop allows those who work there to be 100 per cent dedicated to its customers. It also releases Synseal to concentrate purely upon its customers needs without the distraction of trying to intertwine new products with different customers.

• Do you think there are too many extruders in the UK?

Competition is healthy, we exist as a result of it. Competition creates innovation and nurtures initiative. If there are too many extruders supply and demand will ultimately remove the weak.

• And finally, do you think Nottingham Forest will be playing Huddersfield Town again next year?

How are Huddersfield going to get promoted from 12th and 1 game to go?

For more information about Synseal please visit www.synseal.co.uk.

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If you would like to put your name forward for an interview with the Renegade Conservatory Guy, please get in touch with me by commenting below.  I have a couple more top people lined up for interrogation, so please keep your eye on my blog.

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I was watching the TV last night, and was surprised to see Anglian Windows with a major feature on the show. They say that any publicity is good publicity, but I’m not sure about that in this instance.

The show highlighted a series of failures by the company to provide good customer service, and a good product. In fact, much of the workmanship shown on the TV programme was shoddy. I won’t go into detail, and you can read the detail on the BBC website here.

What 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 and stated the following:

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

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.

Well, Martin I challenge you to come back to this website, and answer the following questions:

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I visited Glassex for two days this year, having decided against having a stand this year. We had a stand last year, but it wasn’t overly successful, mainly because we didn’t show products, in my opinion.

Anyway, what did I think of Glassex 2008?

Well, there was quite a lot of negative talk going around. A few people suggested to me that they could have ‘done Glassex’ in half an hour.

For me, however, I felt i didn’t see everything I wanted within the two days. I have a tendency of talking a lot, and Glassex is a perfect excuse to catch up with old friends, colleagues, customers and suppliers.

The main purpose of our visit was to sort our trading terms with our main supplier for the next 12 months - this was a struggle with rising energy prices and raw material prices. However, we are satisfied that our conservatories company are in a strong position to compete in a tough market in the near future.

There were a few things that caught my eye:

But, for me, the highlight of Glassex 2008, was seeing Bob Parsons from Synseal wandering around. He’s been through major health issues over the last 12 months, so to see him back at Glassex was a real bonus for me. I’m looking forward to touching base with him, when he returns to work in June/July.

I feel that people should stop knocking Glassex. It’s a great showcase, and even though it is smaller that 10 years ago, there’s still a lot to see, and good business to be done. In a difficult marketplace, we cannot allow our industry exhibition to disappear.

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I’m back from LA now, and still recovering from Jet Lag - or is it a hangover, not sure?

I learnt quite a bit about internet marketing - from how to manage a Google Adwords account, setting up a niche subscription website, creating an effective podcasting channel, through to buzz marketing.

I was particularly impressed by one of the speakers - Andrew Locke. I think he is known as the Renegade Auction Seller due to his exploits on eBay. He showed the delegates a number of impressive online resources, such as 99Designs.com a site where designers from around the world will compete to produce you the best designs for the fee you set. Definitely worth checking out!

I’m now back to business in the UK now - and looking forward to Glassex.

I’ve heard rumours that this could be the penultimate event, which will be a real shame. I feel that, although, the show has decreased in size every year for the last 10 years or so, there is still good business being done. And our industry needs a flagship event where all the great and good can display their new products, and more importantly - socialise!

Finally, you probably think I’ve gone a bit loopy, but I’ve set up a new website called My Inbox Crap - it’s a safe place for me to put all the very best and worse joke emails. If you have any really crap emails, then please send them on to me at matthew@myinboxcrap.com.

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I’m in LA at the moment visiting the 4th Underground 24 event - basically a 3 day internet marketing conference.

I was invited by my good friend Barry Dunlop, as he felt I could learn quite a bit about how to succeed online from some of the internet masters. To be honest, a lot of it is way over my head!!!

But, I’m meeting some great people here, such as Dean Hunt, Mason Thomas, and Michael Dunlop, all of whom manage to combine being generally nice people with making money online.

My concern is that I come back to the UK, and my mind goes off on a tangent, which is easy to do. I currently co-run an £8m per year window company in the UK, and earn a decent living. But many of these internet marketeers seem to have vastly better profit margins and business models than my existing traditional manufacturing business. I’m sure there is quite a lot of exaggeration going on, but some of the speakers have managed to impress me with sensible, intelligent online marketing concepts.

For example, Tony Hsieh has managed to build a $1b online shoe business - Zappos.com - by ensuring that the company ethos is simple -

…the very best customer service!

And, today I was blown away by the sensible words from Mike Faith of Headsets.com, who has built a highly successful online business, specialising in selling headsets. His business is in the only specialist retailer of headsets, and suggests the secret of his success is through failure - in otherwords, learning from his mistakes. I was particularly impressed that Mike, a fellow Brit, started his sales initiation in the UK knocking on doors - selling replacement windows!!

Anyway, I’ll be back in the UK on Wednesday with some really good ideas to improve our existing websites for upvc windows, doors and conservatories. The challenge is to not come back with crazy unrelated ideas!

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Phoenix Double Glazing Companies - survival of the weakest?

I read a very interesting article today in the Fenestration News, discussing survival of the fittest in the window industry.

The article is by Chris Ball from MBA associates:

A very experienced senior manager said to me this week that he was seeing in the window industry what he had seen in the steel industry when he worked there and it was evolving and altering under the squeeze of competition and price pressure. He described it as a situation where the strong got stronger and the weak got weaker but I’m not sure that is what we are seeing in the window industry as yet.

To end on a positive note it’s in changing markets that most money is to be made, opportunities present themselves that wouldn’t otherwise be seen in a stable environment and it is the most exciting of times to be in business but change is scary stuff especially if you don’t have the degree of control you would want! The senior manager who kicked off this train of thought had seen it all before in the steel industry and was happy to be back in it up to his neck! Strategic change is about a small number of very big decisions and if you have it right you don’t have to change strategies often. Maybe now is one of those times and it’s going to be fascinating to see how the species evolves and hopefully be part of that process.

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Gap Home Improvements - uPVC stockists and great hosts.

Our double glazing company has dealt with Gap for many years. We were their first customers when they opened their Leeds branch about 6-7 years ago.

And, out of all our suppliers, I rate GAP right at the top of the list.

They supply us with uPVC fascias, soffits and guttering, window boards for our conservatories, and they have a great range of door panels. They also have probably the best composite door on the market - Rock Door. The quality of products and range are second to none.

They deliver on time and all the usual stuff, but the reason I rate the company so highly is simply because they offer a level of hospitality that is unsurpassed (Man U games, York Races, Aintree etc) and these get togethers help build trading relationships (even friendships).

So I’d just like to thank GAP for all your efforts as a supplier - it does get noticed!

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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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The Armstrongs - Website sales meeting

I know just how expensive it is to generate window, door and conservatory leads, having spent thousands on Google Adwords over the years! It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who has thrown money at a conservatory website.

The team from Coventry’s third largest double glazing company debate whether the wheels have come off their website:

Classic TV! When’s the next series?

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Bush and Blair video

This is funny:

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