May/June 2021

Contract The Business Talk Pilot Barometer
CRUNCH TIME FOR RETAIL?
Business is booming but according to Neil Cooper-Smith, senior analyst at Business Pilot,
there are challenges on the horizon that make proper business management critical...
Business Pilot Barometer Edition 16: February/March/April 2021
“Covid-19 may still be with us, but the world we now occupy today is a very different one to
that of 12-months ago. In April 2020, things felt apocalyptic. We were in our first national
lockdown, factories had shut their gates and like the rest of retail, installers were forced to
close their showrooms. Fast forward to April 2021, and things look and feel very different!
The UK-economy is forecast to see its greatest growth since the post-war period and the
construction sector is seeing an unprecedented boom.
“This is reflected in the figures we’re seeing in this month’s barometer. Average sales were up
9% in April on March – but a staggering 55% on the same time in 2020.
“New leads for April 2021 held firm on figures for March - and were 273% higher than April
2020. Conversions also held steady last month, up 3% on March.
“This reflects the wider bounce in the UK economy which shows that it is back to where it was
pre-Covid-19 and with forecast growth in GDP of 7%, seeing its strongest gains since 1945!
“Increased consumer confidence, plus demand generated by the Stamp Duty holiday meant that
house prices also grew at their fastest rate for 17-years last month, up 2.1% in April.
“According to mortgage lender Nationwide, this represented the biggest monthly rise since
February 2004 and was 7.1% higher than in April 2020.
“There are, however, challenges on the horizon. The price increases trickling, or perhaps more
accurately, cascading through the supply chain, make cashflow forecasting and business
management critical.
“This pales into insignificance in the face of significant disruption to component supply from
PVC-U resins, to laminates and glass, to hardware and steel.
“With systems and float glass manufacturers warning of supply chain challenges, it is only a
matter of time before fabricators do the same.
The Business Pilot Barometer offers a monthly analysis of the key trends
defining window and door retail, drawing on real industry data collated
by the Business Pilot customer relationship management system (CRM).
“This makes effective lead management, increased forward visibility of order books and effective
job scheduling increasingly important for installers. Having the right processes in place in your
business and the visibility of where leads or jobs are in your sales pipeline or operational schedule
- plus financial reporting - is going to be very important in the coming months as installers juggle
continuing high levels of demand and unprecedented pressure on their supply chains.”
Business Pilot uses cloud-based technologies to give installers complete
visibility of every element of their operation from leads and conversions to
job scheduling, cost of installation, service calls, and financial reporting.
www.businesspilot.co.uk www.businesspilot.co.uk/barometer
14 T I MAY/JUNE 2021 PRACTICAL CONTENT FOR THE GLAZING INSTALLER & HOME IMPROVEMENT SPECIALIST