This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
96


SPN OCT 2012 InMyView


www.swimmingpoolnews.co.uk REASONS TO BE POSITIVE


Paul Grunhut is Director of Total Water Products, the Port Talbot based independent chemical manufacturing and marketing business which includes the popular Lo-Chlor chemicals range which have been solving pool and spa water problems internationally for the last 20 years!


I feel I had very good reason. We could look forward to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London 2012 summer Olympics. Then all we needed was some half decent weather and the ‘feel good factor’, certain to follow across the nation would do the rest. It was going to be that simple. On the back of all these one-off events the chances were the UK population might just put the recession on the back burner for a while and with a more positive outlook and decide to invest in and/or enjoy their current swimming pool and hot tubs at home.


I


Sadly, as we all know that hasn’t been the case and something went wrong.


It wasn’t the fault of the Jubilee which was memorable and moving; nor was it down to the tremendous efforts of our Olympians and Paralympians which united the whole country with patriotism and pride. So where did it go wrong?


Without stating the obvious, it is all down to the weather. We have just been through the wettest summer on record and we come out the other side of it begging the question how we must work harder in the pool and spa industry to find enough positives, good news and progress to re-build a solid foundation to launch into the 2013 season.


It only seems like yesterday that the Environment Agency were advising that 17 counties had moved into official drought status and now some four months on, I like my two children and the rest of the nation, is saying “What happened to the summer?”. My concern is what if this really is how summers will be from now on?


It’s a worrying thought. It isn’t the first summer that the phenomenon of the jet stream, something the experts don’t totally understand, has affected the UK weather, albeit not to such extreme levels as this year. It is well documented


entered into 2012 with a warm feeling that this would be a great year for the pool and spa industry in general.


that the Jet Stream normally sits towards the north of the UK where it directs low pressure and bad weather further north.


My concern is that no expert can explain why it has continued to sit, or as the experts say meander, in such a southerly position. Some satisfaction could be taken from the fact that the weather front has not just affected the UK as reports suggest the French market has also suffered in June and July with sales of swimming pool chemicals and equipment double percentage points down.


As an industry we can’t afford any longer to wait for great summers to kick-start our sales. We have to accept that whatever changes are happening to our climate, they are not one-offs but regular trends.


As a manufacturer of speciality chemical products we enjoy a wide distributor base in Europe where it seems the sun always shines and our philosophy has always been that while we are a proud British company we cannot forget the


With interest rates not helping consumers’ savings accounts it’s clear as an industry we have to work much, much harder and creatively need to entice the consumer to invest in our products.


Recent media coverage that hot tubs are the most desirable status symbol in the UK will help (and as a proud Welshman isn’t it true to say that most people want to ‘keep up with the Jones’) and there’s the significant high profile hot tub on TV’s Celebrity Big Brother.


We can make something from this higher profile status if we remember that our businesses are our brands. If we work hard and smart at effective branding it is possible to lift a product or a business into something unique, instead of being just one commodity among many similar others.


“As an industry we can’t afford any longer to wait for great summers to kick-start our sales”


larger opportunities that lie across the channel, not just the volume of pools but the much better climate.


Europe continues to prove a growth market for us however, whilst we have endured the ‘Jet Stream’ here too they continue to feel the effects of the ‘Euro Crisis’ proving that no industry is recession proof – no matter how many pools a country may have!


So it’s important to remember we are not on our own in this troublesome season – that is a fact. One substantial and encouraging positive in the UK is that the spa and hot tub market continues to show excellent year on year growth for speciality problem solving chemicals and equipment developments.


Standing out from competitors is vital in these competitive times.


There’s a lot more things we can do to fight back, more use of domes and enclosures to extend the season; working harder at greener energy conversions away from gas and oil with heat pumps and be as positive and proactive as we can be as we try to open up pools if the weather is always going to break around April. And then perhaps we won’t worry so much when it rains! spn


i FOR FURTHER INFORMATION


F TOTAL WATER PRODUCTS LIMTED ( 01639 623233 : www.totalwaterproducts.co.uk


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100