Clearview National August 2015 - Issue 165 | Page 80

col our

Now it’s getting
personal!
Sierra discusses how the increasing
desire for personalisation is changing
the face of the window market
»»When PVCu windows
were first introduced, it was pretty
much like the early days of Henry
Ford’s motor cars – “You can have
any colour, as long as it’s black!”
– except in the case of windows,
it was white. With the growing
popularity of PVCu, with its
low maintenance and thermal
efficiency qualities, it became the
norm for new and replacement
windows being white, with whole
new housing developments across
the country having the same
uniform look. Those days are
changing! Whilst white may still
make up the majority for some
time yet, the demand of colour is
increasingly higher.

‘with its low
maintenance and
thermal efficiency
qualities, it became
the norm for new
and replacement
windows being
white’
The ‘2014 Annual PVC
Window Industry Report in
the UK & Republic of Ireland’
produced by D&G Consulting,
tells us that the share of the total
market that foiled windows takes
has increased from an estimated
20.5% in 2013 to 27% in 2014,
and this will continue to rise.
At the same time, we’re seeing
composite doors as the growth
area in the door industry and
while security, low maintenance

and thermal qualities are
undoubtedly key factors in their
popularity, the fact that there is a
wide choice of colours available
is also a key factor in their
success.
Colouring our
decisions
The increasing desire for
personalisation is becoming an
important factor in the decision
making process for buying doors
and windows, whether new or
replacement. The popularity of
property programmes on TV,
particularly those hi ghlighting
how homes can be totally
transformed, has no doubt played
a part in the move to greater use
of style and colour. The success
story and appeal of the hugely
popular composite doors, with
their wide range of colours, has
also played a part. The wide
array of styles, glazing and
hardware options now available
for windows and doors provides
an excellent opportunity for
homeowners to set themselves
apart from their neighbours.
They can achieve the look they
want with coloured foils because
they provide the finished look
and quality that customers
want, replicating traditional
painted wooden windows, but
with the added advantage of
no maintenance and improved
thermal qualities.
Embossed foils match the
finished appearance of premium
wood grains, whilst traditional
colours like Chartwell Green
provide a ‘period’ look particularly
popular in rural areas.

80 » AUG 2015 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M

Winning business,
installing
confidence
For installers, the ability to
offer a range of colours can help
them win business by adding
value for their customers, as well
as increasing sales value, and this
is another factor in the increasing
demand for colour. The quality
and availability of foiled finishes
has improved greatly and foils are
now well proven for their high
performance and robustness in
all kinds of weather. This means
that installers can install coloured
windows with confidence.

‘the ability to offer
a range of colours
can help them
win business by
adding value for
their customers’
The main challenges for
fabricators of the increasing
demand for foils, particularly the
number of colours available, are
maintaining delivery times and the
increased cost of stocking coloured
profile. To help on lead times, Sierra
has recently added a number of the
most popular colours to its standard
stocked range, giving a greater
choice with the same delivery time
as for standard white. Sierra also
offers a Premium Range of colours
with a longer lead time.

Winning service
Providing consistently high
service for all products is key for
Sierra. As National Sales Director
(Trade), Lorna Rose explains:
“We’ve been making changes over
recent months to help provide the
quality of service our customers
expect, and foiled products is
one aspect of this. We’ve made
significant investments in
equipment and organisational
changes to give us greater
flexibility and productivity. We’re
also listening to customers about
what they need and developing
our sales team to focus on
providing the best possible service
for them.”
“We’re known for our high
quality products and we’re
committed to supporting this
with excellent service. We know
that it is important for us to
consistently offer the best lead
times we can and, as the demand
for colour increases, adding new
colours to our stocked range and
increasing capacity are important
steps in doing this.”

‘adding new
colours to our
stocked range and
increasing capacity
are important steps’
Call 0808 178 3455 or visit
www.sierrawindows.co.uk