Interview - Can You Give a Brief Background on The Company? Life as a window installer

Life as a window installer has become a little tougher during this cost of living crisis as prospective customers look harder for cheaper options and many decide to ‘skimp by’ and only replace the absolute must windows and also opt for refurbishment only and not complete replacement.

Added on top, us installers have had price increases and wage increases all thrown at us and with rising costs and not being able to put our prices up inline as much as we would like, we have had to seek out clever ways of running the show!

To counteract this, we at Sereco Windows supply a range of products from the standard range to the elite range. Not only do we supply the standard uPVC range (which all installers do), we also install beautiful high end timber products into more expensive homes and conservation areas, where quote price is not so much of the essence. We also replace double glazing in not only uPVC frames but also in timber frames and most other suppliers will not offer this. This makes us stand out in the marketplace and reach a more diverse customer base.  We have recently added warm tiled roofs to our portfolio to attract another segment of the market.

Established in 2007, we were located in Buxton, Derbyshire back then but moved the business to busier Chesterfield where we could rely on a bigger population and we now pride ourselves on having the best reviews now in the whole of Derbyshire and offer a large range of products to cover different needs and markets. This has resulted in us having no shortage of work; unlike many other installers who stay in the game supplying and installing just the standard uPVC range of products but are now suffering increased competition that has driven prices down in this ‘cheaper’ end market.

We have also tended to focus more on residential work, but over the last year or so, we have taken on some big commercial projects in aluminium and are shifting our business this way as well. We also undertake timber projects as well as secondary glazing in conservation areas and are the preferred contractor for Chatsworth Estates which we feel is quite a prestigious role to have. Al this diversity leads to more opportunities and more contracts being won.

The biggest changes faced in the last few years:

As well as many prospective customers seeking cheaper options out there today and installers like us also battling with rising costs, we feel also there have also been a lot of changes in the industry in the past few years. There are now a lot of choices for homeowners in terms of product choices as there are more options on the table now than there were in previous years; more colours, more foils, more styles and more options of materials.

Many homeowners like to consider UPVC, aluminium and timber before making their final choice of what is right for their home. Also, foils have become extremely popular as people are deviating more away from the plain white UPVC and the higher end paying customer is often more willing to pay a little bit more for the difference.

Q: Why do we offer a premium timber product portfolio and other higher end products?

We are often asked why we offer a premium product portfolio and what is our thinking behind this. The answer in a nutshell is that we attract a more discerning customer who is more quality driven then price driven.

Having said that, I am also a qualified joiner by trade and it was a natural transition for me to bring the business into supplying and installing high end timber products.  Also, with less competition in this field, the profit margins are so much higher than with our UPVC equivalents.  We do have to travel further for timber though as it is more conservation areas and people willing to pay a higher price.

Also with our uPVC range, we do not provide cheap and cheerful; we tend to pick the cream of the suppliers in the UK and our philosophy is that we would rather pay more for good products and attract a client who wants quality and longevity and superior aftercare service.

When it comes to looking at suppliers we way up the quality of the profile (we use Deceuninck for uPVC), their speed of response, the lead times and more importantly than anything their after care service!  We have used many suppliers in the past and this is such an Important part of our company philosophy; making sure our suppliers are super reliable!

How is business is post pandemic?

We have noted more competition entering the market and more one man bands on the road which we feel is driving prices down in the lower end UPVC market.  Homeowners are often tempted now to opt for the very cheapest so we have to sell our difference more now – best reviews in town, fitters get paid a salary not piece rate, we allow extra time to finish off to perfection etc.

We often get called back to put jobs right where they have been installed so badly by cheap skate installers with cheaper products! However, we do appeal to a more discerning customer who checks reviews and we educate them on the pitfalls to avoid. I have been in the trade as an installer for up to 40 years so prospects often say to me they feel very confident and comfortable as I know what I'm talking about and give solid and trustworthy advice.

Also due to the cost of living crisis we have had to put our fitters wages up quite substantially as we pay our fitters well as they are the backbone of our business and we are only as good as our fitters. This means our prices have also increased, especially when you add on the increased product costs as well.  So, again we have had to get better at selling our difference and explaining why it is better to pay the price once and not have any regrets!

Energy efficiency has become more of a driver for sales

Energy efficiency is naturally more of a driver for sales these days, especially with all the rising energy costs and we educate our customers on how our thermal glass works and operates and why it saves on their utility bills. We have seen an for triple glazing enquiries in the marketplace

A view on 2025

We are starting 2025 very busy indeed and we are now fully booked for quite a few months into this year.  It is an installers dream to secure longer installation projects, maybe one to two week installs at a time, rather than just half days and one day installs. The reason being is that there is just as much work involved in organising the shorter installation jobs and we are pleased to say that we have quite a few larger and longer installations lined up for the next few months. This is my reason for entering 2025 with the goal of clinching larger commercial type of installation and replicating a recent one we are just due to complete that had a duration of 3 weeks and a contract value of £135,000.

Click here for more information: https://www.serecowindows.co.uk