Being a die hard believer in the benefits of uPVC, no one can accuse me of not allowing alternative opinions on this website.
Although I disagree with parts of this interview, Chris Brunsdon articulately argues the case for engineered timber windows.
Hi Chris, you seem to be one of the most active Timber Window companies in the trade media. Does it pay off for you?
Joinery companies never really appreciated the value of the double glazing trade or the benefit in talking to the industry. In their view plastic equalled cheap and nasty and those peddling it are low-life and best avoided. However, at TimberWindows.com we don’t share that view. We come from an installation background and so have an inherent respect for the local window firm. From the outset we realised that the skills of the double glazier (skills of selling, surveying, installation, customer service and after sales care) needed to be harnessed as a route to market for our engineered timber products. Our trade campaign has focussed on changing opinions and sending out the message to the double glazing industry that the material has moved on but the game, essentially, remains the same.
A whole generation of window firms has grown up believing that PVC-U was the only answer to volume window replacement (short-sighted), that timber is hard to fit (in fact it can be quicker and easier than plastic – our system is) and wood is too expensive to sell (our sales figures speak for themselves). So yes, it has paid off. Not only have we successfully built a nationwide network of over 125 installers, but more fundamentally, we have started a snowball rolling that will inevitably see engineered timber grow to usurp PVC-U as the mainstream replacement window material of choice.
You seem to be bucking the trend in the current economic climate. Is it because you’re taking market share, or is the timber window market doing better than PVC-U?
At the end of the day, timber windows continue to be the preferred choice for end users. The public love it and want it in their home. In the public imagination timber is natural, sustainable, it restores architectural integrity, it’s honest. What put consumers off in the past – problems such as rot, warping and high maintenance associated with traditional timber windows – made PVC-U attractive. But with engineered timber they get all the benefits of a PVC-U window with the natural sustainability and beauty of timber. It doesn’t matter how much you re-brand, re-package, foil, colour or bake plastic, it’s still plastic. And plastic (think laminated flooring, formica, and disposable knives and forks) is not the real deal. So I’d say we’re not bucking the trend, we’re just surfing the wave.
I’m a big fan of your website. Many companies in the PVC-U market could learn a lot from it. What plans do you have to develop it in the next 12 months?
We have three talented full-time web developers on the team now, and yet there’s always a ‘to do list’ of nearly 100 tasks. Earlier in the year we joined forces with The Performance Window Group and have been busily coding up the fabulous products that our sister companies, Mumford & Wood and Clearwood Joinery, have to offer. Once coded our Registered Installers will have, at the click of a button, a solution to any timber window project ranging from the historic, listed building to the modern architectural development – and everything in between – that requires cutting edge timber window and door design. That’s quite exciting.
Less in the public eye we are constantly working to web-enable more and more of our back-office functions to keep our staff numbers down and therefore our prices to customers under control. Last month we picked up The Bright Sparc Award for the second year running, this time for ‘Use of Sustainable Technology in a Business’. The award recognises our ‘use of sustainable technology which minimises environmental impact’. We use web applications to manage all aspects of the business, which gives sustainable benefits such as improved efficiency, less travel, lower overheads, reduced infrastructure, high scalability, more innovation and high staff morale.
We only have 12 full time staff on a turnover of nearly £6 million so we’re not doing too badly on this score. But the website is pretty much a never ending project.
You have a great online window quoting system. Why don’t you allow consumers to get an online quote?
Are you belittling the trade of the double glazing salesman? We are not selling tins of beans here, we are selling a product that will last for decades and add serious value to a property if correctly specified. The customer needs expert guidance and needs to understand the benefits.
Which is the most sustainable type of window – PVC-U, aluminium or timber?
Do you have to ask? It’s timber of course (end of story).
Why don’t you do conservatories?
Coming very soon!
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For more information about TimberWindows.com visit:
Tags: Timber Windows
Very tidy website
I sense a need for conservatory software soon
THE software for conservatories is of course available at RoofWright.com. Free trials available and 100% guarantees as standard.
Well said, Chris! My own experience is that timber commands a premium leading to a much healthier bottom line. While pvc has clearly been very successful, there is a substantial wedge of the market that it will never reach, and another wedge that would replace their existing first-generation pvc with a modern wood window if they were offered the choice.
With ‘green’ issues to the fore, this makes for an easy sale.
Get a door knob and doctors knocker on that ‘Townhouse’ door Chris!
Thank God for TW’s (along with Evolution) … no brown tonguing intended, I for one would struggle to get a decent margin selling shiny white plastic windows amongst the many companies out there that don’t understand the word profit ..
Having a unique product range is absolutely necessary in this highly competitive market . . or indeed any market place should longevity be the goal.
There is always money around for high end quality products .. albeit these buyers demand value for money (not a cheap price)
And how many companies are going to chase a probable trickle of sales into what will always be niche market?
By definition products sold at the top end of the market will only attract a limited number of buyers, no matter how much the quality and exclusivity is hyped.
Most of my customers would show me the door sharpish if I quoted prices for bespoke timber, no matter how good a product it is, for the bleeding simple reason they ain’t got the cash!!
The Upvc industry has prospered because it invented the whole new concept of making replacement windows affordable for the vast amount of homeowners.
Personally I prefer the look and character of timber windows and conservatories over PVCu.
However, I have chosen to install PVCu in my own house because of the maintenance factor (oh, and I got them at a good price).
I wouldn’t know where or how to start marketing for timber products and I don’t like the smell of putty, so I’ll stick with plastic for now.
As with most commodities, there is a market for top end and less expensive low end products/services …. fortunately we have always sold aspirational products, this requires a certain sales approach and the customers often have very high expectations which need to be met – obviously this is reflected in the price – unlike Ian, I would struggle to make money working on a high turnover low margin business model offering products similar to the majority of other local window companies.
An analogy being, Aldi car parks are always busy as are those of Marks and Spencer ….
There is room for all of us out there
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