Lockdown Loosens Purse Strings

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A manufacturer & retailer of windows, doors, home extensions and conservatories will make a £500,000 investment to increase capacity - following a remarkably successful lockdown

Conservatory Outlet, which employs 174 people at its 60,000sq.ft factory in Wakefield, is looking to build on a pandemic period that saw it achieve over £4 million of sales across its 28-strong retail network of installation companies.

The improvements will be completed in four stages and include a number of infrastructure enhancements and the addition of a new ACT Schirmer Cutting and Routing machine that will dramatically improve the precision levels and edge quality of window profiles whilst increasing production efficiency significantly.

This state-of-the-art installation will be joined in the new year by the construction of a 10,000sq.ft factory extension.

 “Manufacturing is at the heart of what we do and it is vital for us to continue to invest in our factory so we can meet growing customer demand across existing and new product ranges.”

– Michael Giscombe 

Managing Director, Conservatory Outlet.

Infrastructure

“Our network of retailers has achieved amazing success in recent months and this led to us exploring new ways to increase capacity whilst maintaining lead times. The opportunity to purchase the latest technology and make some key changes to our infrastructure will make a huge difference at just the right time,” adds Conservatory Outlet's Giscombe. “With all of the improvements, plus the factory extension, we believe we can increase capacity by 20% next year and if the pipeline of sales is anything to go by, we’re going to need that production flexibility.”

Kane

Conservatory Outlet was purchased in an MBO in 2011 by current owners Greg Kane and Michael Giscombe. The duo has focused heavily on building strong partnerships with the company’s network of retailers, whilst also investing heavily in its R&D team to ensure it is setting consumer trends in windows, doors and conservatory products.

This approach has seen the firm increase turnover from £8 million to £21 million in just nine years, with the desire to grow by 50% between now and the end of 2024.

Kane adds: “Like most businesses we were temporarily hit by Covid-19 but decided to tackle issues created by the pandemic head-on, launching a ‘lockdown sales competition’ that achieved £4 million in just seven weeks.

“To support this, we also accelerated the launch of our new design App, which gives customers the freedom to design and price hundreds of styles of windows and doors online via Zoom.

“Consumers are also choosing to spend more money on home improvements this year, rather than expensive foreign holidays. This meant it was the perfect time to introduce the Eclipse Collection, our exclusive new range of super-slim aluminium windows and doors that are proving extremely popular.”

Education & Training

Conservatory Outlet has reinforced its commitment to developing the talent of the future by recruiting five new apprentices.

Picture: Greg Kane CEO and Mick Giscombe MD.

Article written by Cathryn Ellis
21st October 2020

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