Safestyle confident of further market share growth
THE boss of Safestyle UK says he is confident the company will increase its market share and achieve further growth in the second half of the year.
Speaking to TheBusinessDesk.com after posting its interim results yesterday , Steve Birmingham, the Bradford-headquartered window and door manufacturer’s chief executive, said that although orders dropped slightly in July they have since picked up.
“We are heading into the second half of the year with a strong order book,” he said.
While it continues to experience steady growth in its heartlands of the North and Midlands, the group is firmly focused on further expansion in the South and South East and building on its success in the first half of 2014, which saw sales in those regions grow by 21%.
“We have unfininished business,” says Birmingham. “Where we were once very unrepresented in the South, we are steadily growing our presence and to keep up this momentum is a major focus for the remainder of the year.”
Safestyle’s growth in the South has had a positive impact in Yorkshire, with 50 new jobs created at its Bradford headquarters, including administration roles and telesales staff.
The company believes its proposition, including strong promotional finance packages, will help it continue to win customers.
“We are competing for people’s disposable income, our average order value is £3,000, so while we are not complacent, we do have a good proposition. Our smaller competitors are often unable to offer finance packages, and are also weighed down by increased regulation costs,” says Birmingham.
Safestyle is nearing its first year as a public company after becoming the only stock market quoted double glazing business in the UK as it joined the Alternative Investment Market last December with an initial market capitalisation of around £77m.
Reflecting on its first months as a quoted company, Mr Birmingham says management is “very much” focused on running the business.
“Obviously as a public company we are subect to greater scrutiny and additonal pressures but we are focused on keeping the business on the right course and making sure it continues to perform the way it has since the float,” he said.
“From a credibility point of view, it is an advantage to be the only quoted glazing business in the UK.”
Safestyle UK was founded in 1992 and has become one of the largest companies in the UK homeowner window and door replacement market
The firm is well known for its ‘buy one get one free’ (BOGOF) TV advertising featuring the loudmouth ‘Safestyle Window Man’ Cannon & Ball, former Bucks Fizz member Cheryl Baker, Ken Morley who was Reg Holdsworth on Coronation Street and once even former Leeds United chairman Ken Bates.
