Freefoam Commercial Director, Colin St. John says five big trends are shaping the roofline market and explains how Freefoam helps independent roofline stockists grow.
Five big trends are shaping the roofline market
The roofline market is changing, driven by five big trends - climate change, demographics, housing wealth, colour, and market concentration.
Climate change
Speaking at the UN Climate Change Conference in Poland in December, Sir David Attenborough said: “If we don’t take action, the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon]
Think climate change, and most of us think of hotter, drier weather. Over the past decade the UK has recorded nine of the hottest years on record, but warmer also means wetter and windier. Strong winds and violent storms are becoming more common.
Extreme weather puts pressure on our buildings which will need to be better-maintained to keep the wind and rain out. But there’s a problem. People ‘see’ roofs and walls, but rarely look at their roofline: the fascia, soffits and rainwater that protect their property from the elements. Small problems can develop into big problems, and roofline is probably the most vulnerable part of a house. A leak can do a lot of damage.
When homeowners realise they have a problem and installers explain what’s gone wrong, they want a fit and forget solution and don’t want a repeat. Freefoam installers find that homeowners appreciate the unique benefits of Freefoam’s Freeflow® rainwater with its long-life compressible seals and watertight joints. Being compressible, the seals also allow gutters to move silently when they expand in the heat without noisy creaking disturbing their sleep.
Our guttering systems are co-extruded with white inside – another Freefoam innovation - to minimise heat absorption so they expand less and avoid creating gaps that cause leaks.
Reassuringly, our roofline and rainwater systems are backed by a market-leading 50-year Lifetime Extended Guarantee on white and 10-year guarantee on colour products to give homeowners peace of mind and make it easy to sell.
Demographics and housing wealth
The UK’s population is growing fast, faster than most of Europe for the last 20 years. People are living longer and healthier so fewer people are dying. More people enter the country than leave, and most who stay start families.
A growing population puts pressure on health, education, transport and housing. We have a surplus of houses where the population is declining, and a shortage where it’s growing. We have a restrictive planning regime and NIMBY movements that stop houses being built so demand outstrips supply. No wonder prices have risen dramatically in the past 25 years.
Rising house prices puts new houses out of reach of many and puts pressure on younger under-45 homeowners with high outgoings on mortgage payments, childcare and general living. They are, as Theresa May says, ‘just about managing’, barely able to afford essential home maintenance, let alone home improvements. They’d like the best products for their homes, but have to buy on price.
However, the big increase in house prices over the past 20-odd years has boosted the housing wealth of older homeowners, particularly the over-55s. This largely mortgage-free group is the core of the Bank of Mum and Dad. They own much of Britain’s housing wealth and most of our savings and can afford to invest in their homes. They love quality, style and colour and want the best. With rising house prices, improvements soon pay for themselves. Installers, who sell to the ‘Haves’, and stockists who supply them have grown and done well.
Colour
When today’s consumers buy beautiful windows and doors they are increasingly in colour. They don’t want ‘shiny white’ fascia and soffits with their new Chartwell Greens or Anthracite Greys, they want colour to match.
Colour is getting on for a third of window and door volumes, but those who sell to these house-wealthy homeowners frequently sell half or more in colour. Freefoam’s patented Colormax® technology helps stockists and installers capitalise on this growth area. It’s one of the most technically advanced colour processes for roofline and rainwater, incorporating a unique selection of stabilisers and pigments, specially chosen for their high colourfastness. That’s reassuring when the climate is changing.
Darren Beaumont, General Manager at C&A Building Products says: “Customers want a full suite of colours with matching accessories. Freefoam lets us capitalise on this growth market with a choice of 16 attractive colours in fascias and soffits and six colours in rainwater guttering with a 10-year guarantee.”
Market concentration
The deep 2008 recession sparked intense competition among suppliers for space on independent stockists’ shelves. It spurred several to build their own route to market by acquiring stockists and setting up trade counters to sell their own roofline. While they build their own distribution, they also sell through independent stockists. For the record, Freefoam sells exclusively through independent stockists and grows by helping them grow.
But market concentration and selling through supplier-owned outlets has become increasingly popular with roofline producers, leading to fewer roofline brands and fewer independent stockists.
With recent takeovers, we estimate that more than three quarters of roofline is now sold through owned-distribution. That affects installers who may have to travel a lot further if they want to use a favoured brand. It also affects independent stockists who like to offer installers a choice of roofline brands, because they increasingly find themselves competing with their suppliers as supplier-owned chains expand their networks. Stockists are busy people who focus on installers in the areas they supply, so the threat of competing with their suppliers isn’t obvious until it happens. When it does there can be only one winner, because only the supplier can bridge the margin gap between buying and selling price.
Helping customers grow
Freefoam entered the UK market over 20 years ago with a simple long-term strategy of selling through independent stockists and merchants and helping customers grow, because if they grow, we grow. #HelpingCustomersGrow is Freefoam’s official policy. Our service and support goes beyond product to marketing packages and generating quality leads through our consumer facing sites: www.myrooflinematters.co.uk and www.mycladding.co.uk. We also offer strategic advice and support for stockists looking to expand and acquire new branches, or for those looking to be acquired.
We’re proud to support independent stockists and despite tough market conditions our year-on-year sales continue to grow in 2018, with our customer’s growing too.