Merry Christmas!

Here it is again, that time of year to spend quality time with family and friends!

It's been a very long and hard year. So put up your feet, fill your face with food you usually have to burn right back off at the gym, have a beer/glass of wine, and relax knowing you don't have to go back to work for a good 10-14 days!

Thanks to all that have commented this year, ticked a reaction box or just paid me a visit on here. Your support is greatly appreciated and I hope that you all come back next year, and bring a few of your friends too :)

I wish you and all your families a very Happy Christmas!

Warm Wishes

Double Glazing Blogger

Calm Down!

I saw this picture yesterday and laughed my head off:

Christmas starts in December people!

Silly Season About To Begin

This is the time of year that always perplexes the industry. There are only seven working weeks left of the year, and it seems that a lot of our dear customers have left it till now to tell us they want their windows and doors replaced...all before Christmas!


So, get ready for the abrupt phone calls when you tell customers that you're fully booked and won't be able to fit them in before the Christmas tree goes up in the front room. Look forward to the rushed paper work so you can meet your deadlines while trying to worry about what you're going to buy your wife for the holidays. Get ready for trying to skirt round the office staff frantically trying to put the Xmas tree up. 


It's a fun time of year we all look forward to! Happy holidays!

My Christmas Message

Unlike RCG, I do enjoy the Christmas period (just not this extreme cold!).


I am fully aware that Christmas is bad for business, but it allows everyone to breathe a sigh of relief and gives us a chance to relax and not worry about business and money, just for a little bit. If your boss is nice enough, you get to let your hair down with staff parties too!


Christmas is a time for families as well. The older you get the more important your family seems to become. Grandparents are an important one for me, I have only one Grandad left, so it's vital we all see him, especially during the festive period while he's on his own. With this time off we should be making the most of it and be seeing our loved ones. 


Cards. This is a controversial one. Some people like to give and receive them, some people cannot be bothered with them. The ones from suppliers and manufacturers I can understand. But the ones from friends and family are the ones that matter. RCG, remember cards can be recycled! Don't insult the good will some people are genuinely trying to send you!


Commercial. Yes Christmas is about the most commercial thing on the planet! Shops started to sell festive stuff back in August, way too early! But we don't have to succumb to the commercialism, we aren't forced to. We can do things which don't involve spending copious amounts of money. It's the simple stuff which I think can make people happy at this time of year.


So, I wish everyone (even RCG!) a very special Christmas and a fantastic New Year. Enjoy the time off. Re-charge and get ready for another busy year ahead!

And Now The Rush Begins!

This week has been manic! It's been the usual case of people rushing to get windows and doors ordered and wanting them in before Christmas and before the new VAT rate in January. It never ceases to surprise me even though the same thing happens every year. People seem to wait and wait, put it off for as long as possible, and then they get motivated right at the end of the year when there is very little time left!


Obviously for us sales people it's a very nice and timely boost before the quiet winter period, but it doesn't half create some stress! Your natural selling instinct is telling you that you can promise customers what they order will be fitted before Christmas, but you know full well that there is only a matter of a few fitting days left until you have to start booking into January. 


I can't understand why people leave it so late all the time! Maybe it's me. Maybe I'm too organised and I can't imagine doing the same thing!

My Next Big Post

I've spent three and a half years as a salesman in this industry, starting at the very tender age of 17. Now at 21, my next big blog post is going to be about my time spent in this industry so far. People who I've met, be it customers or competitors. I'll try and tell some half interesting stories! The post will represent my reflection on the industry, the highs I've had, and the lows too, it's going to be a personal affair.

At the same time, I may start to drip in details of who I actually I am. I've remained anonymous thus far, but I am undecided as to whether I reveal myself fully, partly or not at all. Giving myself away will give me an identity and image, remaining anonymous means I can remain impartial and unbiased. I would appreciate some feedback; it will probably make my mind up. There's only one person that I'm aware of that knows who I am at the moment.

Merry Christmas all!

It Wouldn't Be Christmas Without...

It wouldn't be Christmas in the double glazing industry without:

1. Customers prolonging paying so they can wait till after the New Year to clear their debts. Except this time we can charge the normal 17.5% VAT rate! Serves them right.

2. Fitters complaining about the weather. As you will not have failed to notice, this past week we have been in the grips of very icy, cold and snowy weather. Which gives the fitters the perfect excuse to duck and dive out of as much work as possible.

3. The same Xmas CD being played over and over again in the office and showroom.

4. Customers rushing in to try and get windows fit before Xmas, just a couple of weeks before we shut up for Xmas.

5. Very drunken office Xmas parties.

It's all very British in tradition, nowhere else does it like we do.

Everything Grinds To A Halt!

This country's inability to deal with a bit of snow is astounding! Canada, Russia and most of Europe must be laughing at us right now. 50-60 years ago we used to have dumps of snow measuring in the meters, not a couple of inches and we coped fine then! What’s gone wrong? We have become a nation of soft touches, reliant on so many home comforts. And when something a bit extreme comes along we all wither and complain! This is a bit hypocritical coming from me though, I do love the central heating, and the fact that I live only minutes from work, and have always had a car from the age of 17, so I guess I have no room to talk. But at least I don't take the weather situation for granted, like teachers!

How Long Should A Double Glazing Company Be Shut Over The Christmas Period?

As Christmas approaches, many of us will be thinking of a nice two weeks where we get to leave our jobs behind. But how many of us will really be taking a full two weeks off?

We officially finish for the year on the 18th December, but we will be open for the weekend, and for a few hours each day a couple of members of staff will open up the office and showroom to arrange any new appointments for the New Year. The days we will be completely closed will be Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years Eve, New Years Day, then back to work officially on the 4th January.

Over the past few years we have found it very useful to be open for a few hours on these days as we have made quite a number of new appointments for the beginning of the year, meaning the salesmen have work to come back to and we all hit the ground running.

Winter Positivity

While RCG is suffering from the winter blues, I'll try and be a bit more cheery!

While the industry goes into its hibernation period, now is the time to think about the year we have been through, and how well we seem to have coped as an industry.

The beginning of the year brought the most financially unstable period of economic crisis the country has seen in over 70 years, and certainly of my lifetime. Yet faced with this, whilst feeling the pressure and dealing with some seriously big concerns, we remained resilient as an industry, determined not to let the economic turmoil ruin what has been such a vibrant industry for the last 40+ years.

The spring delivered the first few fledgling signs of calm, not quite recovery, but signs that the worst might just be now behind us. And with that new found calm, customer confidence did the same. Lead levels started to rise, not as in previous years, but a rise none the less. Revenue levels started to rise and the double glazing industry started to splutter into life again. One reality through the late spring and early summer that became apparent was how big a hit our industry had taken via the huge rise in company bankruptcies. The numbers were the highest we had seen. Yet, they weren't as bad as some predicted. At the beginning of the year, many (including me) foresaw a blood bath, with some proclaiming that up to 4000 companies could go. In reality it wasn't that bad. I think we can owe that to the 'never give up' attitude a lot of us in this country have.

The summer and early autumn was when the industry really did start to find its legs. From my own personal experience we found that lead levels and sales volume started to gain serious momentum, and I think the same can be said for a good percentage of the rest of the industry. Again, I'm not saying that levels were as good as previous years, but bearing in mind the massive shock to the economic system, the vital signs were healthy.

The previous two months I think have been busier than usual for our industry. This could be caused by consumers saving their income throughout the year, and now deciding to carry out home improvements before the onset of Christmas, also knowing that the economic situation is much more stable now than at the same time last year.

I think we have a lot to be positive about. We've battled through the worst recession since the Great Depression, and come out stronger and wiser in my opinion. Most of the companies that were lost to the recession were hopefully a lot of the deadwood in out sector, meaning the rest of the profitable business out there can be taken advantage of by the more solid companies. And I think 2010 whilst being a year of change due to the Part L and F updates, the industry will continue to recover well. We should be proud of ourselves!

Customers Don't Want To Slow Down Just Yet

With only a few trading weeks left we are still finding business flowing at a brisk pace. This was in complete contrast to this time last year. We have only a few fitting dates left before we close for Christmas and at the rate we are doing business this week we may have all those filled by Friday! Usually by now things have really ground to a bit of a halt. Lead numbers are usually down, sales numbers are down and the general buzz about the office is slowly fizzling out. But we have found the opposite. While lead numbers have decreased in the usual manner, turnover has remained at a good level; it hasn't dropped away in its annually dramatic way. And we still have that buzz which comes from being busy and productive. This mini-trend over the past couple of weeks will see us well into the New Year, sheltering us from the danger the winter period can bring to double glazing firms.

Other bits of good news today; the Bank of England has altered its outlook about the strength of recovery for the British economy over the next couple of years. It has raised its forecast of economic growth in 2011 from 3% to 4%. Though how much of this will transfer to the double glazing industry will remain to be seen.

The rise in unemployment in the third quarter was less than expected, showing that the rate of job losses is slowing. More evidence that the UK economy is finding its feet again.

The UK Unexpectedly Stays In Recession

The UK economy was dealt a bit of a disaster blow this morning after it was revealed the economy shrunk a further -0.4% in the last quarter, meaning we remain in recession. It was widely expected for the UK to return to growth in the last quarter, but these negative results may dampen the mood of recovery somewhat, and really put into perspective the size of the task at hand, getting the economy back on track. This is also the longest recession on record, a detail the industrial sector probably didn’t want to hear.

This could have a negative affect on our industry. While companies have been doing their best to beat the doom and gloom and keep their heads above water, this, coupled with 50% glass price increases by the major glass manufacturers, could be the two final nails in the coffins of those companies who have just managed to survive through the year by the skin of their teeth.

What will be ultimately concerning is the upcoming winter period. The double glazing industry and the country as a whole was relying on the third quarterly figures to be positive, giving the economy some momentum heading into the Christmas period. Now, thoughts will again be turning back to just surviving through the winter and hoping to make a more positive start when spring comes around. I've said in earlier posts that there may not be the bloodbath in company insolvencies that some had predicted. But after the latest figures from http://www.double-glazing-forum.com/ and these latest quarterly figures out today, I'm forced to change my opinion and believe that it could be a much tougher winter period that I had first thought.

SIGN THE WINDOWS SCRAPPAGE SCHEME PETITION NOW!: http://www.petitions.number10.gov.uk/windowscrappage

Postal Strike

Just heard on the news that there is likely to be industrial action taken by the Royal Mail staff, design to cause disruption, especially at Christmas.


Not helpful for any company!

My advice, as soon as we know the dates of when these strikes are going to happen, send and receive everything you can by email. We're on a good run, the start of a recovery; we don't need something like this causing any problems.

Deadly Christmas?

We've been speaking to a number of people within the industry and those ringing up looking for jobs and we're getting the same message: leads are gold dust. A salesman rang yesterday in the hope that we had a sales position available (which unfortunately we didn't) but told us that after working for three of the bigger companies in the country, leads were still very thin on the ground and that they were like gold dust.

With the months leading up to Christmas being our industry's quieter period, i can only imagine that it's going to be an almighty struggle for a lot companies to try and keep their heads above water. Expect more companies to go under.