Retail specialist reports growing demand for triple-glazed products

Hampshire installer and home improvement specialist KJM Group reports that triple-glazing now accounts for 20 per cent of its standard PVC-U product sales.

The G11 and G13 Awards Installer of the Year Finalist, said it has seen continuing growth in triple-glazed sales this year, with an expectation that they would exceed those of double-glazed products within the next five-years.

Owner and Managing Director, Mark Pearce, said that KJM was seeing sustained and ‘growing interest’ in triple-glazed products from ‘well-informed consumers’, calling for a cut in VAT on triple-glazed ranges.

He said: “People are doing their research. Customers buying triple-glazing will have generally reviewed products online, they’ll have an understanding of U-values and a wider interest in energy efficiency and sustainable home improvements.

“At the present it’s the ‘early-adopters’ who are buying triple-glazed products but the demand is there and it’s growing.

“What would really accelerate this growth would be if the government reduced VAT on this high thermal specification window to 5%, that way they would cost little more than our standard “A” rated double glazed units.”

KJM currently supplies two triple-glazed systems, one – a 44mm system with u-values as low as 0.66W/m².K – from Veka, the other a 36 mm system from Profile 22.

The installer has developed a carefully crafted proposition, developed to highlight the advantages of triple-glazing to the consumer.

“Triple-glazing gives you some pretty strong messaging”, explained Pearce. “It offers 40 per cent better insulation over our ‘A’ rated double-glazed products. The Veka system delivers particular benefits – more than 25 per cent greater thermal efficiency than that of rival triple-glazed systems.

“If you emphasise the add-on benefits, for example the acoustic advantages of laminated glass, the argument in favour of triple-glazed products becomes very strong.”

In addition to Veka and Profile 22, KJM Group also supplies Beaumont and Residence 9, PVC-U systems, wooden windows and doors, including vertical sliding and flush casement windows from Dempsey Dyer and aluminium products from Smart and Sapa.

Its triple-glazed ranges sit within a broader sales strategy, which saw KJM Group’s turnover top £3.2million last year – an almost 30 per cent increase on 2012.This has included increased focus on niche and higher-end products alongside the supply of standard products.

“There are so many positive messages around triple-glazing”, continued Pearce, “the association with Passivhaus, innovation and particularly, its use in Scandinavia – consumers understand that this is a cutting edge technology. We’re confident that it’s going to drive sales in the coming year but also into the future.”

For more information visit www.kjmgroup.co.uk email sales@kjmgroup.co.uk or call 01264 359355.