Colouring our views
Sierra discusses the increasing demand for colour
Industry reports continue to tell us that homeowners are looking beyond just white when choosing their windows. And whilst white still makes up a large majority of windows installed, the statistics certainly point to a growing trend towards the use of colour. According to the ‘2014 Annual PVC Window Industry Report in the UK & Republic of Ireland’ produced by D&G Consulting, the share of the total market that foiled windows takes has increased from an estimated 20.5% in 2013 to 27% in 2014, and this will continue to rise.
Making it personal
The increasing desire for personalisation is becoming an important factor in the decision making process for buying doors and windows, whether new or replacement. It is no longer the norm for new developments to be built uniformly, with all houses looking the same. We often hear the phrase ‘character property’ and whilst most people don’t necessarily live in distinctive properties, they still want and are able to impose their own personality through the use of style and colour in their doors and windows. The popularity of property programmes on TV, particularly those highlighting how homes can be totally transformed, has likely played a part in the move to greater use of style and colour. The success story and appeal of the hugely popular composite doors, with their wide range of colours, has also played a part. The wide array of styles, glazing and hardware options now available for windows and doors provides an excellent opportunity for homeowners to set themselves apart from their neighbours.
Improved quality and greater choice
The improved quality and availability of foiled finishes has helped in the rise in demand for colour. Foils are now well proven for their high performance and robustness in all kinds of weather. Coloured foils are attractive because customers like the look of traditional painted wooden windows, but want all the benefits of PVC-u. Embossed foils match the finished appearance of painted timber windows, and lighter coloured foils imitate premium wood grains, such as Irish Oak. Traditional colours like Chartwell Green are popular in rural areas and period properties but, with the wider choice now available, there are colours to enhance virtually any type of property.
Meeting the challenge
For installers, the ability to offer a range of colours can help them win business by adding value for their customers, and this is another factor in the increasing demand for colour. All this is, of course, great for customers, but it raises practical and logistical considerations for fabricators in how they manage this growing demand.
Installers expect a quick delivery, but with the choice and number of colours available, this brings obvious challenges for fabricators. For Sierra, offering an increased range of colours on three different profiles, it places increased demands on stocking levels. So how do they cope with this?
Sierra has recently added a number of the most popular colours to its standard stocked range, to cope with the growing demand for colour, giving a greater choice with the same delivery time as for standard white. In addition to the standard range, Sierra offers a Premium Range of colours with a longer lead time. But this is just part of the changes being made.
Service and quality are key
National Sales Director (Trade), Lorna Rose explains “At Sierra, we’ve been making changes over recent months to help provide the quality of service our customers expect, and foiled products is an important aspect of this. We’ve made significant investments in equipment and organisational changes to give us greater flexibility and productivity, and have also made changes to our customer services, so we’re definitely getting to where we want to be. Our sister company foiling plant has also invested heavily in machinery to give an additional 25% capacity, which is good news for our customers.”
“We’re known for our high quality products and we’re committed to supporting this with an excellent service. We know that it is important for us to consistently offer the best lead times we can and adding new colours to our stocked range and increasing capacity are important steps in doing this. We will continue to monitor the increasing demand for colour and improve the service we provide. At Sierra, providing the right quality and service every time for our customers is our primary focus.”
To find out more call Sierra Windows on 0808 178 3455 or visit www.sierrawindows.co.uk.
