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procedures in place to ensure our staff remained safe and that shipments came in and out of the business in the safest way possible.”
combination of timber and an advanced glazing system. Meanwhile, for those in search of
relaxation rather than horticulture, Sitting Spiritually has used Accoya in its Affinity Range of bespoke wooden garden swing seats. The high-performance, modified wood is perfectly suited for outdoor use and its rot-resistant finish means the paint retains its beautiful crisp finish for far longer than other types of timber, said the company.
“The dimensional stability it provides means the wood doesn’t warp or change shape, allowing the fine details and angular nature of our swing seats to truly shine,” said a spokesperson for the company. ■
In France, PiveteauBois stopped production for two weeks last spring but demand for its landscaping and garden products “rocketed” as people confined to homes started to splash the cash on their gardens.
“This created huge tension in the market, so we had to work double and treble shifts to meet the demand,” said Elisabeth Piveteau- Boley, director UK & Ireland. “There has been a 20% rise in demand across all garden and landscaping products – and even higher for some products.”
The Glee exhibition at the NEC was a casualty of Covid last year – to the regret of some, but not all.
“They will offer their customers a bespoke option that might have an extended lead time or they can take one of our sheds because they have them in stock,” said Mr Twigg. Naturally it hasn’t all been plain sailing and manufacturers have had to adapt to the new world order. “We saw the same changes that many companies did,” said Peter Jackson, managing director at Jacksons Fencing. “Office staff transitioned to working from home and remaining staff required to be in the office were spaced out across the building to keep a safe distance. “We implemented strict hygiene practices and moved all meetings online. We haven’t had to halt production, but we have increased manufacturing space to ensure everyone is safely distanced.”
Mr Jackson added that the company was
“extremely busy” in 2020. “With many confined to their homes, they turned their attention to improving their homes and gardens, using money that would have been spent on holidays and so on.”
Zest 4 Leisure, the garden products arm of the P&A Group, did halt production when the first national lockdown was announced last March but gradually re-opened the business via its home delivery offer.
“In normal circumstances, having our stockists closed for a large period of the season would have been catastrophic, but such was the demand, both online and with stockists, that sales far exceeded our expectations and budgets for the season were exceeded across the board,” said Simon Davidson, head of commercial development at Zest 4 Leisure.
“During this closed period we put
Hutton has been a stalwart of the show for many years, taking a large stand and picking up good orders but its three week shutdown in the spring gave it the opportunity to rethink its business strategy and focus more on regional than on national sales – although it will continue to sell its products through timber merchants nationally. “We have timber merchant customers all over the UK and they can still buy Hutton products but these are delivered as part of a full artic load of machined and pressure treated timber,” said Mr Twigg. “Our strategy allows us to avoid expensive multi-drop deliveries of small orders where a lorry can be gone for two days or more, so effectively doubling the transport cost.” Hutton also supplies “one or two” significant internet sellers but only ones that sell from their own stock. “We won’t drop ship for them and feel it’s extremely important that we maintain a level playing field for customers who invest their money in stock.”
As a result of the refocus, Glee has become less relevant for them and while the show is scheduled to take place from September 14-16 this year, Hutton won’t be there. An advocate of keeping it simple, Mr Twigg said Hutton now keeps in touch with its customers and prospects via personalised emails, advising them of new products, lead times and so on.
“That in itself has resulted in a deepening of the bond between the customers and the company. In these challenging and uncertain times customers need information and it is our responsibility to provide them with it”. Zest 4 Leisure was disappointed that Glee didn’t take place but said that Virtual Glee 2020 was “a huge success” for the company and that it has every intention of attending the next physical event. “We enjoyed meeting new and existing customers on the virtual platform away from worries of the pandemic,” said Mr Davidson. “To make the most of the virtual trade show
opportunity, we also created a collection of bespoke videos filmed on location in ‘The Zest Garden’ as we could not see customers in person,” he continued. “They showcased our range and our new products in a way that imagery alone does not. All filming happened outside under strict socially distanced measures. This proved to be very successful as we presented the products ourselves. “With regard to new products; we were thrilled to have come away from the event with four product awards including; Best New Product for the three-tier stackable raised bed – also category winner in Garden Growing Containers. The easy build Burghley arbour won in Garden Leisure & Entertaining category and Zest’s cherry blossom Japanese- style arch was a joint winner in the Garden Landscaping category. This was a huge boost for us and has led to record volumes of orders being placed for the 2021 season. “These products along with the other 2021 new collection have now been launched to the trade and we’re pleased to see that they have been well received. “We really enjoyed speaking with customers on the virtual platform but nothing beats meeting people face-to-face so we’re really looking forward to this year’s Glee event and showcasing our range for 2022. We have booked a larger stand and are already designing for the exhibition event.” As reported in our fencing market
report (TTJ January/February), anyone manufacturing fencing products has had a bonanza year.
Forest Garden, for example, saw fencing demand up 30% in the second half of 2020 compared to 2019. After the first lockdown it had to turn down new fencing business in order to focus on supplying existing customers and it introduced additional shifts at the beginning of this year.
Jacksons Fencing said that all its garden fence panels were popular and it had seen an increase in sales of acoustic barriers, not just for large developments but for single residential properties as well.
“The pandemic really has highlighted the importance of health and well-being and acoustic fencing works extremely well to reduce harmful noise around our homes and gardens,” said Mr Jackson. “People have noticed the impact of noise a lot more as they have been spending more time at home.” And elevated fencing demand is not
exclusive to the UK. PiveteauBois can’t supply fence panels to the UK at the moment because it can “hardly meet the demand in France”. Most of the company’s client base in France is professional builders, carpenters and landscapers but it too has found that the redirecting of holiday funds into renovation and remodelling projects has led to huge demand for fence panels, sleepers, decking products – and swimming pools. ►
www.ttjonline.com | March/April 2021 | TTJ
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