Despite fears amongst some economists and politicians that voting to leave the EU would send the economy into a tailspin, a recent report has shown that installers are overwhelmingly positive going forward.
The annual Installer Industry Report by the Consumer Protection Association (CPA) has found that, in the immediate future, installers are not seeing a slowdown in consumer spending since the referendum result.
The CPA commissioned independent market research company, Insight Data, to carry out the survey, which asked more than 12,000 installers a series of questions about their business performance and expectations for the industry.
The report compares business performance between 2015 and 2016 and asks installers whether they think sales and profits will increase or decrease in 2017.
When asked if they had noticed that Brexit has affected consumer spending so far this year, 79% of installers said ‘no’, compared to 21% who said ‘yes’.
However, when asked about their expectations for the glass and glazing industry, installers were less upbeat. 41% of installers expect growth across the industry. 41% say it will stay the same and 14% say it will decrease.
Also, only 34% of installers expect consumer spending to increase in 2017. 45% say it will stay the same and 17% say it will decrease – suggesting that, in the long-term, consumer spending may be hit.
When polled about how business performance in 2016 compared to 2015, 34% said profit margins had increased, with 55% saying they had stayed the same and 10% saying they had decreased.
Interestingly, despite the fact that the installers polled expect consumer spending to slow down in 2017, when they were asked about their business expectations for 2017, 72% said they expect to see sales increase, compared to just 3% who said they expected to see them decrease.
On the report, which is the CPA’s fourth, Jeremy Brett, director, commented: “The report gives a unique insight into the industry from the perspective of installers who are at the coal face. Touch wood, the industry appears to be holding up and this report confirms lots of anecdotal evidence we’ve been hearing that shows there is lots of work out there and consumer spending is holding up.
“Ultimately, nobody really knows what the future holds but our members are confident going into 2017 and the fact we’re seeing lots more companies join us, is also a positive sign.”
