The latest figures released by Tommy Trinder suggest that aluminium sliders are drawing level with bifolds for market share; £56 million of aluminium sliders have been quoted by installers via the Tommy Trinder app over the last 12 months, compared to £59 million of bifolds.
“We know that demand for stylish aluminium sliding doors has soared in recent years, but this latest activity data from Tommy suggests we are reaching a tipping point where demand for patios may once again outstrip bifolds,” says Tommy Trinder’s founder and CEO, Chris Brunsdon.
While volumes of aluminium sliders have been trending upwards, the picture for aluminium as a whole is less clear, however. Crunching the data from over 300,000 quotes that were prepared by installers in 2024, Tommy Trinder has identified that the latter half of the year saw a cooling off in the values of aluminium quoted.
“More and more installers have adopted aluminium into their range – a year ago 78% of installers sold aluminium, that now sits at 87%,” says Chris. “As aluminium has become more mainstream, competition has increased and the like-for-like price on many items has come down.
“And PVC-U is fighting back too, of course. Premium features such as flush sashes, foils, astragal bars, Radlington cills, period handles and dummy pegstays have made a dent and we are seeing these being quoted in ever-increasing volumes on Tommy.”
Commenting on the scope and accuracy of the data, Chris says: “630 window firms are using Tommy for their quoting, ranging from one-man bands to national firms and from the highlands to the channel islands, so it’s a solid representation of the market. However, it’s likely that our typical subscriber’s product mix is somewhat skewed towards the top end. Upselling occurs naturally when it’s quick and easy to show off premium features, so it stands to reason that Tommy Trinder users will sell more of these high-ticket products like aluminium sliding doors.”
