The Windows & Doors Market Laid Open For The First Time

The GGF Group Market Knowledge Report

The GGF, along with commercial entities FENSA and BFRC, has combined resources and data, to produce the GGF Group Market Knowledge Report for the UK glass & glazing industry. It is the first to use analytical insights, which combine with factual installation data.

Long overdue, it is first of any narrated industry analysis to be published for more than four years. The GGF says this is the precursor to the launch of an on-demand data service from 2022 that drills deeper than ever before.

FENSA has a unique status in the industry. As the largest competent persons scheme in the UK with more than 6,300 Approved Installers, it notifies over 77% of installations registered in England and Wales (and now with a recently established presence in Scotland).  As such, the data presented in this report provides a thorough and accurate representation of the industry’s most recent performance, with data provided from installations completed during the past three and a half years, from January 2018 to June 2021. It draws only on FENSA installations although it does take a guess at the strength of the 'grey market' - those that do not belong to any competent person scheme be that FENSA, Certass, Corgi or others.

The BFRC (British Fenestration Rating Council)  data provides a breakdown of live licences for energy rated windows and doors and also analysis of products by energy rating. When combined with FENSA data, this provides a wide-reaching indication of product trends across the country, both currently and historically.

The Glass & Glazing Federation provides a broader backdrop of the sector, with combined input from manufacturing, fabrication, installation and also political and social issues impacting on the industry.

 

Criteria for the project

This initial report has been designed following extensive discussions with a number of industry partners, which established the key criteria for the project. The industry consultation shaped what will be covered in future reports as well as the expansion of the FENSA Knowledge Hub to become a subscription service that will enable the analysis of key industry data, covering other aspects of the supply chain, and with ‘real time’ data access.

 

The Market Knowledge Report content

The report contains analysis on the Wider Economic Backdrop, offering a narrative on key political, economic and social influences to have affected the market during the past two years. A further section, The Grey Market, considers the crucial issue and impact of window and door installations that are carried out outside of any competent persons schemes. Industry Performance & Circumstances provides a narrative derived from internal and external reports and data which, together with anecdotal evidence and observations, offers a market overview.

The section entitled FENSA Installation Data provides recorded statistics on the replacement of domestic windows and doors from January 2018 through to June 2021, the first time such information has been made publicly available. The breakdown includes numbers of windows, doors, installations, windows per installation and doors per installation. Drawn from installations logged by more than 6,300 FENSA Approved Installers, these statistics alone provide the most comprehensive factual picture possible of the domestic replacement market during the past three and a half years.

FENSA Regional Data provides geographical data on installations, whilst Local Authority Performance (by installations) provides an insight into the top 10 performing local authorities whilst also offering a breakdown of average cost per job and cost per unit across the period covered.

 

Assessment

RISA Assessment Ratings is drawn from 40,000 assessments carried out on FENSA Approved Installers by RISA, the GGF inspection organisation. This data ranks installations seen between 1 and 5 (the higher the better).

 

BFRC

Window Licence Overview provides data recorded by BFRC and offers a glimpse of the uptake in technological advancements and innovations in the design and production of increasingly energy efficient windows and doors.

 

FENSA Knowledge Hub - future reporting

Whilst the report has extraordinary importance for an industry that has enjoyed little in the way of analysis in the past four years, it is the precursor to the FENSA Knowledge Hub, a service that will be launched early in 2022 that will give access to this and other data in the future, in near real time and on demand. As examples, the information may be relevant to installers seeking to gauge their performance against others in their area regarding the number and average cost of installations; and manufacturers on the number and type of products being installed and against a geographical breakdown.

The service will be supplemented by bi-annual Key Knowledge Reports which, whilst summarising the data will also provide analysis and commentary on the state of the industry as a whole. All data provided is ‘blind’, with all sources remaining strictly anonymous.

 

 “The GGF Market Knowledge Report and the FENSA Knowledge Hub that will be launched in 2022, not only redress this information ‘vacuum’, they provide factual data that has simply never been previously available.”

– John Agnew 

Managing director, GGF Group

 

Industry insight

Anda Gregory, Chief Development Officer for GGF Group says that the Market Knowledge Report and from 2022, FENSA Knowledge Hub, will advance window and door industry research and data analysis to a level that has not previously been possible: “The information that we are making available using FENSA and BFRC data, is the most comprehensive and detailed available for the English and Welsh home improvement sectors. Combined with insights and analysis provided by the most experienced and knowledgeable minds in the industry, it provides invaluable insight to our industry.

“When available from next year,” continued Anda, “the online tool will provide factual information with the minutest detail within days of installations being completed. Supplemented by BFRC product licencing data, companies will be able to manage their businesses – installers, component and materials suppliers and manufacturers – in ways that have previously not been possible.”

 

The GGF Group Glazing Market Knowledge Report is available free of charge to GGF members, FENSA Approved Installers and BFRC customers.

Copies to all non GGF Group Members are available at a cost of £250+VAT in the GGF Shop.

Picture: The GGF Group Market Knowledge Report for the UK glass & glazing industry is available now. To obtain copies - Click Here

 

 

Article written by Cathryn Ellis
11th August 2021

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