IE
I’ve just had my copy of January’s Glass News delivered, and it’s packed with predictions from business leaders right across the industry about what the market might look like in 2023 – including some comments from me.
I wasn’t surprised to see how many of the contributors agreed with me that 2023 would be challenging to say the least. In fact, if you scan through the 12 pages (!) of predictions, the words that jump out at you the most are threats, uncertainty, recession and skills shortage.
There is a general consensus that high energy costs and rising mortgage rates will continue to dampen demand in the mainstream market. However, there is also a good degree of optimism that the premium end will hold up well – and lots of confidence in aluminium products, high end composite doors, smart technologies, and windows and doors with a clear energy efficiency focus.
Lots of commentators are expressing relief that the supply chain issues in this industry have largely been resolved, but I did spot a warning from one of the big glass suppliers about rising costs on glass after March when the government withdraws some of the financial support it has been providing to big energy users – which is something for fabricators need to be aware of.
I share the view of others that we will see business failures in 2023 amongst weaker businesses who don’t have the resources or agility to navigate a tough market but that good, customer focused businesses could potentially come out stronger.
Certainly, at Mila, we are very confident in the value of our offering, and we are continuing to invest for growth in 2023. We’ve got an impressive list of new products to be launched over the next few months and a transformed Mila Test Centre experience to reveal to customers. Final plans are underway here in Daventry, but we’ll shortly be revealing new facilities and a new testing programme via a dedicated new website – you won’t be able to miss it!
Richard
