September 2022

Industry News
More news, updates and interviews at www.total-contractor.co.uk
CHALLENGES FOR
SMALL BUILDERS
SURVEY SAYS PRODUCT AVAILABILITY IS
STILL THE MAIN ISSUE FOR ROOFING
Responding to the latest figures from the
Office for National Statistics which show a
fall in construction activity of 1.4% in
June, the Federation of Master Builders
has stated this is a growing concern for
small builders given the wider fall of 6.1%
for private new housing and the continuing
fall of 0.2% for repair, maintenance and
improvement (RMI) work.
Brian Berry (pictured) Chief Executive of the
Federation of Master Builders (FMB) said:
“Costs are up across the
board for both builders
and consumers alike
which is affecting
business confidence.
With 98% of FMB
members experiencing material
cost increases, builders are inevitably having
to pass on these costs to consumers. The
result is that householders are starting to hold
back with many households increasingly
concerned about rising energy prices and the
threat of a recession later in the year.”
Berry concluded: “With the Government at a
standstill, we won’t see any ambitious
announcements to help support the sector
until September when the new Prime Minister
will be announced.
“In the meantime, the Conservative
leadership candidates need to be explaining
what they intend to do to help the
construction sector boost economic growth.
Cutting the rate of VAT from 20% to 5% or
below on all repair, maintenance and
improvement work would be a welcome start
to help boost building work all across the
country, and help people insulate their homes
ahead of further rising energy bills.”
www.fmb.org.uk
Availability and lack of stock remains the
number one issue for roofing installers in the
UK, according to the latest third-party
research commissioned by roofing
components company, Klober.
Klober says two hundred roofing installers were
surveyed about their profession, buying
behaviours and the key challenges they are facing
in the industry, with almost a third stating
availability was their biggest issue.
The survey shows recruitment and lack of skilled
labour was a close second, with 22% stating this
as their main challenge. Klober points out this has
similarly been coined the number one issue by
some construction bodies, whilst the number of
workers in UK construction in Q1 2022 was said
to be 263,000 lower than in the same quarter of
2019, according to the Office for National
Statistics (ONS).
In terms of behaviours, Klober’s survey
highlighted roofing contractors showed signs of
returning to pre-Covid purchasing habits with an
11% increase in face-to-face purchasing from
Klober’s 2021 research – jumping from 78% to
89% respectively.
Klober says when deciding on which roofing
products to use, the majority of roofers mainly rely
on their own experience. However, the
manufacturer says this has decreased from 82%
to 68% since 2021, whereas there has been an
increase in contractors wanting to seek support
from suppliers such as Klober or merchant staff –
rising from 68% to 74%. Klober also points out
there has been an 11% increase in roofers looking
to a supplier’s or merchant’s website – from 29%
to 40% respectively.
Klober also conducted a similar exercise with
merchants for the first time, alongside contractors
and installers. Of 194 merchant staff surveyed,
71% put availability as the main issue.
Above: Pauline Manley, Marketing Director at Klober.
Klober says it is taking action to respond to these
challenges, with particular focus being placed on
availability. As well as recently expanding storage
in its distribution centre, the manufacturer says it
has always prioritised retaining as much control
over its product as possible to protect its
customers.
Pauline Manley, Marketing Director at Klober,
commented: “Although it’s a challenging time for
industry, and this research clearly highlights this,
we are proud to be part of the BMI Group which
enables us to retain more control over our end-toend
supply chain. Having a considerable number
of manufacturing plants throughout Europe means
we can be versatile in our manufacturing
arrangements, at the same time as ensuring
effective and consistent product supply.”
Key findings from Klober’s survey:
• Availability is the roofing industry’s number one
issue.
• The labour and skills shortage is the second
biggest issue.
• Roofers are returning to face-to-face
purchasing.
• More contractors are looking to merchants for
support when selecting products.
www.klober.co.uk
More on challenges for roofers – survey claims
roofers are the most likely trade to have turned
down work due to material shortages – page 8.
6 TC SEPTEMBER 2022