With people spending more time in their homes than ever before, it’s no wonder why there is such an appetite for property upgrades – whether this is through adding more space by way of an extension, repurposing the space in a renovation or building an entirely new space separate to the house such as an annexe or garden room/office for a little escapism.
A rise in people working from home has also meant families have been vying for prime positions in a bid to get the best Wi-Fi spot or the biggest flat surface for a laptop and accompanying paperwork. Couple this with the record heights of house prices and the baby boom that we’re going through and that will continue, and you’ve got yourself the biggest demand for home renovations this country has seen, as people want to maximise their home, create more space and have a better quality of life.
So what’s the problem?
In short, nothing. It’s just all about understanding what’s out there and what obstacles you face. Anyone who has already done some kind of upgrade to their home will have experienced either delays in getting materials or quotes for lead times/delivery times that seem out of this world. It all seems wrong given the nation is used to next-day or even same-day delivery.
The lockdowns meant people stopped extruding, sourcing or manufacturing the raw materials. On top of this, Brexit has caused significant delays with goods coming in from international waters and HS2 have certainly been pulling rank and taking a lot of supply, especially in the South East of England.
With this pent up demand and the obstacles to supply, it’s all sounding like a recipe for disaster. In August, some companies were not guaranteeing deliveries of doors and windows before Christmas, with some quoting January or February 2022. So with this, are most thinking that getting a pre-Christmas delivery is ‘good’ and settling for that?
Don’t settle; do your research
Origin by no means have a crystal ball, but we do have a vision and have been investing since inception; even more so since the national lockdown to make sure that this vision becomes a reality.
Our vision for homeowners is to transform the way families enjoy their homes from the inside out. For our trade partners, the vision is that they never miss an install day and that we will deliver what they want when they want it. With this ethos, it just doesn’t sit right that, if this was in line with the market norm, it could be three months’ time before you even see your new doors or windows.
The market can’t operate like that. Instead of taking a three month lead time at face value, is there another manufacturer out there that can help move your project along that bit quicker?
Enter Origin
At Origin, we know building projects rarely go fully to plan, especially on a timing front. There are last-minute changes and delays that can happen, and so we pride ourselves on being the most flexible manufacturer to work with.
Residential doors and windows are often one of the last building items to be ordered as installers are often waiting for confirmed sizing before being able to commit to an order. What use would it be if there was an extended lead time on these, too?
That’s why we invest so much into our supply chain and stock holding, as it means that we are able to deliver in as little as 24 hours, or whenever you need it. Brexit or no Brexit, lockdown or no lockdown, we’ll continue to deliver on this.
Our Your Lead Time, Not Ours delivery promise means that we deliver when your builder or trade partner is ready for them, whether that’s tomorrow, next week or next month.
How does Origin offer a 24-hour lead time?
Origin hold in excess of £11million worth of premium grade aluminium, components and ancillaries in stock. We offer a variety of colour options across our range of residential doors and windows, including black, white, anthracite grey and a selection of woodgrain styles. These are held in stock at all times, so if you need to replace your old door with a new French, single, sliding, front, bi-fold or garage door system tomorrow, we can go and get the required goods and make it straight away.
Of course, if you were looking for an Origin product in a more specific or unique style that falls outside of our most popular colours (such as one of 150 RAL colours or a dual colour option), there would be a longer lead time and your door or window may be subject to delays. Therefore, our advice would be to keep it simple – the resonance of this message couldn’t be stronger at this point in time.
On top of this, to build more confidence in the Origin brand, we have opened our new storage facility in Bicester. This has allowed us to increase the level of storage by 82% when compared to the amount of stock our seven existing manufacturing sites offered us to hold. The move of these materials to the new facility has enabled these manufacturing factories to expand and increase their capacity so we can increase output and ensure we’re not a bottleneck in your project.
The new facility – affectionately called ‘the Ark’ – was acquired to help us weather any storm that may come our way, whether that’s feeling the repercussions from the lockdown or Brexit, or anything that may happen in the future. There are industry-wide shortages that happen and can affect our offering, but we work relentlessly hard to minimise the effect on our installers and subsequent homeowners.
Closing note
So, if you have been thinking about a building project, don’t settle when initially informed of long lead times or be put off from doing your project entirely.
Can Origin Global and our partner network help? Find your local installer today to find out.