A year of opportunity in aluminium
13th January 2015
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Jerry Webb, MD of aluminium fabricator CDW Systems, is confident about the aluminium industry in 2015 despite a number of challenges on the horizon.
He feels that the rising popularity of aluminium amongst homeowners, and its strength in the commercial sector, means there will be lots of opportunities for installers to win new business.
He also highlighted progress had been made to cut red tape in the aluminium industry. Over the past decade a range of measures to cut CO2 emissions had made Britain globally uncompetitive, leading to the loss of 87 per cent of the UK’s primary aluminium production capacity.
But campaigning by industry representatives has helped to reverse this trend – with moves made in 2015 to compensate energy intensive industries for costs of energy taxes; and funding put in place for a UK Manufacturing Industrial Strategy.
However a lack of innovation, an upcoming general election and rising material costs were all cited as potential challenges going forward.
Jerry comments: “I am confident the UK government now values manufacturing as a sector that can deliver wealth for the economy. This is good news as it means further investment and incentives to produce the very best.
“More specifically, we are seeing domestic demand for aluminium windows and doors continuing to grow. Property owners want quality aluminium bi-folds, wide-span patio doors and other products. This is good news for installers.”
In his own business 2014 proved to be a very successful year for the company, with CDW Systems introducing a second shift to meet demand and also employing ten new members of staff.
“2014 proved to be one of the most successful of our twenty two years in business. It was a privilege to be working with so many installers on a wide-range of exciting projects. We’ve been open about the fact that lead times slowed down due to how busy we are but we have now fixed this issue with the addition of a second shift,” Jerry concludes.
www.cdwsystems.co.uk
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