28 | Sector Focus: Decking & Garden Products
ROOM IN THE GARDEN FOR OSB
The garden room has been a popular purchase during the pandemic, which has been good news for HM Garden Rooms in Buckinghamshire. Having searched for garden offices
for themselves, and finding a limited choice of well-priced, good quality options, Jordan Hickson and Jordan Marsh, both of whom have more than 20 years’ experience in the construction industry, set up HM Garden Rooms. Using quality materials, they produce a
range of built-to-last, aesthetically-pleasing garden buildings that their clients have put to a multitude of uses. One of the top-quality materials the company relies on for these structures is Norbord’s SterlingOSB Zero. “SterlingOSB Zero is easier to use and lighter but just as strong as plywood,”
said Jordan Hickson, director. “It throws up no challenges so we are able to get the job done with no fuss. It’s also cheaper than ply and readily available so it ticks a lot of boxes for us and we’ll continue to use it in our builds.” All of HM Garden Room’s buildings are clad in a variety of beautiful materials but clients are increasingly asking for the SterlingOSB Zero to be left exposed on the interior as part of the design finish. “A recent client wanted the printed side of the OSB left bare inside their mud room as they really like the utilitarian feel of the material”, said Mr Hickson. HM Garden Rooms purchases
SterlingOSB Zero from local builders’ merchants Travis Perkins and Grant & Stone branches in the home counties, depending on the project location. ■
◄ “Our sales of timber swimming pools have doubled compared to last year,” said Ms Piveteau-Boley. “People know they will be spending time at home so they are investing in their well-being. Another trend in France is to rent very well equipped and quality houses (airbnbn etc) and this has stimulated private individuals into investing into a pool so they can rent their property. Climate change and rising summer temperatures have also contributed. People tend to go for small swimming pool models (3m x 6m) but well equipped with rolling cover, heat pump and so on.
“Our clients love our smooth rounded face decking boards for better water drainage and slip resistance,” she added. “Douglas fir is very popular for decking, especially our grey pressure treated finish (Catalogne and Lavezzi).”
Sales show no sign of abating either. “Our order book for the trade for the coming season is already full.”
Decking has put in another stellar performance at Hutton’s parent, Severn Valley Woodworks where sales were up a whopping 58% year-on-year in 2020, which itself was a record year for the company. “And we haven’t taken on any new customers,” said Mr Twigg. “We could have done – we had vast swathes of enquiries and that came down to the fact that we had [raw] material when others didn’t. When some of the nationals cancelled their supply contracts in the first lockdown because they weren’t sure what was happening, we kept it coming in. It put us in a very good position when we did return to production.
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“Cladding is another product where we are up 42% year-on-year,” he added. “Our overall volumes of machined timber were up 37%. Given there was a three-week shutdown, some of the numbers are staggering.”
He added that at the beginning of February forward orders for profiled and pressure treated softwood from customers were around four-and-a-half times the usual level. Hutton’s sales have been strong across the board, with “the usual seasonal suspects”. “In the summer the market went picnic table mad and then it was seating,” said Mr Twigg. Arbours and other decorative garden products have also done well.
Zest 4 Leisure’s outdoor dining sets were
“extremely popular”, said Simon Davidson, and the company saw a considerable increase in demand for its ‘grow your own’ range. “With the increase in home schooling, several of our customers took their lessons outside and taught children the importance of home-grown produce,” he said.
“Sales of our deep root planters, veg beds and herb planters were incredible and beyond anything we have previously experienced,” he added.
Zest 4 Leisure survived tight material supply by having a generous stock holding of products across the range and saw “huge increases in sales”. Arbours and swing seats sold “exceptionally well” as did the company’s range of larger structures, such as gazebos, pavilions and shelters.
New this year is its Easy Build range, the design of which is based on the principle of fewer components that are more easily put together. The collection includes the new
Charlotte dining set and seating range, the Burghley and Tenby arbours and the three- tier stackable raised beds.
Other manufacturers, such as Jacksons Fencing have been content to satisfy demand with their existing ranges. “We released two new panels and a fence topper panel at the start of 2020,” said Mr Jackson. “The market seems content with the designs that are currently in play. This could be down to the lack of show gardens in 2020, such as the Chelsea Flower Show.” Garden product manufacturers were optimistic about business this year even before Boris Johnson’s announcement on February 22 of the easing of restrictions over the next few months. “As the world begins to open up again – pubs, restaurants, leisure facilities and the holiday market – we imagine it will begin to quieten down, but spring and summer are always busy for us,” said Mr Jackson. “It’s encouraging to see people turning to British manufacturers and investing in high quality products that will last longer than standard garden fencing and I hope people continue to support British manufacturers now and into the future.” “All the indications are that this season
is likely to be another exceptional one, as demand throughout the quieter autumn/ winter months has been far higher than anything we have experienced before,” said Mr Davidson at Zest 4 Leisure. “And both the size of orders from customers and the number of new enquiries we continue to receive indicate a huge amount of confidence in the sector.” ■
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