16 | Sector Market Update: Fencing & Pallets
SUMMARY
■Fencing demand is satisfactory but not booming
■The wet winter brought ups and downs for the fencing sector
■The pallet industry reports steady trading but unpredictability too
■There is growing momentum for pallet reuse
WEATHER WARMS FENCING DEMAND
The fencing season has got off to a satisfactory start but it’s unlikely to be a record year, meanwhile business is generally steady for the pallets sector. Keren Fallwell reports
When the UK’s “mini heatwave” arrived in the last week of April, the fencing sector was no doubt hoping that the warm weather was the start of positive things to come. That’s not to say this year’s fencing season has got off to a bad start, but generally the longer the warm, dry weather continues, the better.
The upturn in the weather followed a wet winter in most parts of the UK which presented ups and downs for fencing traders, depending on their location. Some said replacement of fencing following the winter storms provided them more business than usual, while others felt the wet weather had, literally, dampened outdoor projects and demand. “We kept busy but it wasn’t a great winter,” one contact told TTJ.
Having said that, March sales for the contact were slightly up on last year, and others reported that the run-up to Easter – often the marker for the start of the fencing season – was busy.
Contrary to the impression that the UK experienced high rainfall over winter, a sawmiller said it had been “relatively dry and mild” and so “the regular excuse of too wet/ too cold” had not been evident. One fencing supplier and contractor said that demand prior to Easter was very high for the supply and fitting of fencing, with lead times as long as 10-12 weeks. Demand for just fencing, however, was much lower. The sawmiller also reported above-average business for fencing and expected sales to remain steady over the summer. “Demand for our fencing products is at a higher level than normal, and certainly higher
TTJ | May/June 2025 |
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than last year. We’ve had a busy first quarter and we expect that to continue well into the autumn,” the sawmiller said.
Although it’s difficult to imagine anything romantic about fencing, Valentine’s Day, and then the position of Easter in the calendar, also affect fencing sales. “An early Easter is no good. The possibility of poor weather means the momentum normally felt the closest Tuesday to Valentine’s Day – the day I say is like
someone flicking a switch – is lost and it stutters a bit,” said one contact. “A late Easter, as it was this year, gives the Valentine’s effect a second stimulus. The further through June or July we see the effect, the better the year turns out. If we see numbers dip in late May then we have to work harder to make up for that reduction in footfall.” Another contact also remarked on the positive impact of a later Easter. “The good weather brings further encouragement to get out in the garden,” he said.
While his figures for February and March were on a par with last year, he was not confident, however, that the 2025 season would be a stand-out year.
“There’s nothing to suggest it will be an absolute boom. I’m not writing off the year, but I think it will be pretty average,” he said, and added that he expected the season to be shorter than other years.
The UK economy and geopolitical uncertainties all pay into consumer choices, even if people are not obviously affected, he said.
“The uncertainty will reduce demand, even if it’s just a mindset, or someone’s pension value has gone down. People will be more cautious,” he said.
Given the general air of uncertainty, if sales improved slightly on last year, he would be happy.
In terms of fencing trends, waney- and feather-edge remain the fencing staples, but the trend for the modern, Venetian panel continues.
Above: The trend for the modern, Venetian panel continues PHOTO: FOREST GARDEN
While consumers’ budgets are being squeezed, so too are those of businesses.
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