It's good to talk

Recent industry events such as G09 Awards, Glassex and Glass Talk have given many individuals the chance to discuss trading over the last 12 months and compare sales strategies. The networking event Glass Talk brought together the most varied mix of industry professionals and enabled attendees to gauge the feel for future business. Areas such as retail sales on finance were particularly interesting, and a number of retailers and installers were surprised to hear of the increasing popularity of this form of sales. The common belief is that house transactions still remain a key driver in window and door sales. There is no place better to illustrate this than on the BBC’s morning show, ‘Homes Under the Hammer’, should you get the chance to watch it. The programme focuses on people purchasing houses at auction and then follows their subsequent renovation project. In the majority of cases, the windows are replaced with PVC-U frames, and to the delight of many of the UK’s profile suppliers, the frames often still have the profile company’s tape showing, for all to see on national television. What this demonstrates is that the window industry is very reliant on house transactions. Until these return to a reasonable level, things may remain challenging. However, with the continual growth of the ‘improve not move’ market, and the predictions of month-on-month increases in housing transactions, 2010 may not be too bad a year for fabricators and installers.

There have also been mixed opinions on HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) move to target pre-pack administration offsprings with VAT demands. The Government is set to target firms that sell the assets of a failed business to a new company owned by the former management. HMRC has revived a VAT law to demand a penalty fee or security against future VAT. The value is calculated on estimated future revenues. The Federation of Small Businesses has said that this move acts against the 2006 Enterprise Act that encourages owners of business failures to start up again. Despite this, many businesses will welcome the change.

John Cowie
Editor
Email: john.cowie@windowsactive.co.uk