As part of a commitment to measure business levels, opinions, and prospects from the front line, FENSA has completed a survey amongst more than 6,200 approved installers, located throughout England and Wales.
Carried out in November and December 2020, the exercise sought to take a snapshot of the market from the installers’ perspective following the end of the first lockdown in May.
Supporting the view that business has been very good in that period, 74.6% of companies responding said that work levels have been good or very good since returning to work. This rose to 81.7% when companies were questioned about demand from homeowners throughout the second half of the year.
And whilst a significant number appear to have not enjoyed the increase in business, the number of FENSA installations registered for the last six months of the year clearly supports the positive response reported by the majority.
The strong market performance was, however, mitigated by severe issues with the supply chain, with 94.4% of installers saying that they had experienced problems and delays with supplies.
Despite this, 66.7% of respondents were optimistic that demand would continue for the foreseeable future.
“The industry is incredibly busy and FENSA Approved Installers are winning a huge amount of work,” said Chris Beedel, FENSA director of membership
“Seeing workloads higher than the same period for 2019 and with the majority of companies expecting current work levels to continue in 2021, is very encouraging for the industry. Although this information is very encouraging and we remain cautiously optimistic, there are a number of factors outside of our control at the moment but FENSA is here to support our approved installers”
Anda Gregory, managing director, GGF Commercial Group, believes that installers have shown ‘remarkable resilience’ throughout the pandemic. She said: “Installers have been severely tested. From having their businesses closed almost overnight, followed by welcome but unexpected strong demand, they have risen to the occasion.
“Lead levels being generated through the FENSA website remain strong and this, coupled with approved installers’ performance throughout last year, suggest that the buoyant market conditions will continue, despite the difficulties imposed by the pandemic.”
