December 2023

Viewpoints & Predictions
A LOOK BACK AT 2023, PLUS
WHAT’S IN STORE FOR 2024?
If the last few years have shown anything for those operating in the roofing, cladding and
wider construction industry, it’s that making predictions and forecasting is a thankless task
and quite possibly a complete waste of time! But it’s still good to try and learn from the past
and plan for the future, so we asked individuals from throughout the supply chain to give
their views on the past year, and thoughts on what to look out for in 2024...
“WE SEE GOOD GROWTH PROSPECTS FOR HIGH QUALITY
RAINSCREEN CLADDING”
Peter Johnson, Founder of Vivalda Group
2023 saw its fair share of unexpected news
in the construction sector. First, we saw
sobering trading updates on consecutive
days from two well-known FT250-listed
building materials distributors, both admitting
that sustained hikes in interest rates were
having a negative impact on turnover and
profits.
Following this trend, we’ve witnessed just about
every major housebuilder laying off staff and
reducing the number of new builds for the
foreseeable future. In another tell-tale sign of the
sector’s woes, homes are taking longer to sell, with
some developers even offering free fridges and
washing machines to lure buyers – a phenomenon
we thought had disappeared with the 1990s.
The last year has also seen a lot of highly
regarded, small to medium-sized contractors
going out of business, victims of the insidious
nature of fixed priced contracts in an inflationary
environment, as well as retrospective cost
reduction strategies from developers and
housebuilders. With interest rates at 5.25%, the
cold winds of sluggish construction activity
appear to be with us for the next few months,
although there are tentative signs rates may have
now peaked; here’s hoping.
Vivalda Group takes pride in its unswerving
contribution to safe cladding,
historically having been priced out of
many large supply contracts after
refusing to join a race to the bottom, the tragic
result of which was Grenfell. The absolute
necessity to avoid a similar tragedy means my
company has cladding safety in its DNA. Safety is
inbuilt into every component – fire barriers,
substrate boards, fireproof insulation, aluminium
fixing systems and, of course, fire-resistant
cladding panels. If only others had given a similar
priority pre-Grenfell. If only.
On the upside, we take pride in our contribution to
making life more tolerable for the thousands of
families who live in the towers we’ve helped to
remediate; not only that, we’re working flat out to
supply the thousands of others where the cost is
similarly borne by the Building Safety Fund. While
it’s fair to say commencement of work in this
regard has sometimes been slow due to planning,
application complexities or insurance issues, this
absolutely vital activity now accounts for a
significant proportion of our turnover. And with
buildings over 11m tall soon to be eligible under the
new Medium-Rise Scheme, this should continue to
keep us busy for several more years to come.
Looking ahead to 2024, the final chapter of the
Grenfell Tower Inquiry final report is widely
expected to be published.
In terms of economic pain, I think the high
watermark of inflation is behind us; in fact we’re
likely to see discounting as the market re-aligns
itself. Even to this day my eyes water when I’m
reminded of some façade brands increasing
prices by as much as 45% in 2021/22 in an
attempt to defray their raw material costs.
However, they may need to row back by offering
project rates – or run the risk of losing market
share to comparable (my italics) products that
are more competitively priced. It’s the iron law of
economics: products price themselves into the
market; products price themselves out.
With Andy McEwan, our CEO now at the helm,
2024 is shaping up to be a great year for Vivalda
Group. With 11 branches UK-wide, unrivalled
fabrication capabilities and a well-established
team of highly skilled people, we continue to
invest in the business.
This year (2024) will see us launching our own,
UK-manufactured solid aluminium cladding
system, MetSkin, which will provide much needed
additional capacity to the non-flammable
cassette market. Recent times have not been
easy for the construction sector but we’re
optimistic about bucking the trend. In summary,
we see good growth prospects for high quality
rainscreen cladding.
www.vivalda.co.uk
14 TC DECEMBER 2023