Warmseal boosted by competitors' collapse

Jan 13 2009 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

THE collapse of a number of competitors and a re-focussing on public sector work has led to a significant sales boost at a double-glazing company.

Warmseal, of Newcastle, is set for a record year with turnover expected to come in at £16m, 20% up on last year, and the staff roll now numbers 145, up by 50 over the same period. Its performance is especially impressive as home improvement is a sector which is suffering from the economic downturn, as households rein-in discretionary spending.

In the last year three of the North East’s major window companies have gone out of business with the loss of hundreds of jobs, Grange Kitchens has also ceased trading with the loss of 50 jobs and nationally the MFI chain has gone to the wall.

But in the last week Warmseal, which is based in Throckley, Newcastle, has taken out a lease on the former premises of Newcastle-based Arctic Windows, the latest window company to collapse just before Christmas, to facilitate further expansion.

Warmseal founder and managing director Kevin Taylor said: “We have had our best year ever. The retail sector is holding its own and the demise of other window companies has certainly helped our retail business. But our decision to secure more public sector work is paying dividends and this now accounts for 70% of our work.

“At the moment it really is a case of the survival of the fittest. We are still here and we are going strong. The growth of the business in the last year has been so marked we really needed additional premises. What happened to Arctic was really unfortunate, but it has given us the opportunity to expand at an important time.”

Mr Taylor says Warmseal’s turnover for its financial year to June 2009 is anticipated to be £16m, which will be £3m up on the corresponding period last year.

The company is now manufacturing around 1,000 made-to-measure door and window units every week and Mr Taylor expects this to rise to around 1,500 units by the summer. He also expects to take on a further 15 staff in the next few months in addition to the 220 people currently employed in the region, including the labour of the small firms it uses for sub-contracting work.

Arctic Windows, which was based on the Newburn Industrial Estate, went out of business after being placed in the hands of administrators with the loss of 60 jobs in December last year.

This time last year Stockton-based Budget Windows and Tyneside-based Pennine Windows both went into administration. Their administrators blamed the credit crunch and a downturn in the housing and home improvement markets for their collapse.

However both companies were saved by North East window entrepreneur Graham Auld, who has since relaunched both brands.