For most businesses associated with the building trade, 2008 is going to be a tough one. However, AG Ceramics’ first 6 months of the year is over 8% up on the same period in 2007.
The showroom and trade sales remain slow but our Contracts Division is still very busy especially with commercial work. The housing sites will start to slow down but the individual high specification houses are still in demand.
With customers not moving house there will be kitchens, bathrooms, conservatories and flooring to be done in existing homes. AG Ceramics offers a superb choice of the best available material. We believe our experience and standard of service is second to none. New wall and floor products are available from stock especially in the larger design led formats.
We are always pleased to see new and existing customers in our showroom and our stall are ready and waiting to make the choosing of your material as easy as possible.
The year started fairly well for the Specification Division with several of our developers of large houses finishing off projects that had tiles specified over a year ago. Also, we secured a tile specification with the Kurt Geiger retail chain to supply tiles over the next year for 12 shops in the United Kingdom and 30 shops in the Middle East.
Over the last 3 months there seems to be a mixed response from developers to the current drop in the housing market. Some developers have shut up shop completely until the market improves. Others are buying land at lower prices for development later. The more adventurous developers are continuing to build in the hope there may eventually be a shortage of quality luxury houses due to the number of projects on hold. Whatever your building strategy, hopefully when the time comes to tile your property you will use the tiling services of AG Ceramics Ltd. With over 20 experienced fixers and the largest showroom in Hertfordshire, professional installation of quality materials will only enhance the property, helping it to sell in this period of uncertainty.
There also seems to be a mixed response from the Architects. Some architects are experiencing a drop in work while others have more than they can handle. This indicates that their clients are as unsure as everyone else about the future. One thing’s for sure, the clock will keep ticking and time will tell.
The first 6 months of 2008 proved to be very busy for the Contracts Division. Our workload and order book reached an all time high which in return required us to employ up to 24 tilers during several months of constant activity.
Our mainstays of local house developers were responsible for perhaps 50% of the work, the other half being commercial and domestic.
AG Ceramics has seen a big increase in electric heated floors this year. On average 1 in 6 jobs for floor tiles now include the installation of a heat mat. With ever increasing costs for gas many people are getting these systems which in essence are much more controllable than radiators. We are currently in discussions with several heat manufacturers so that we can offer this system as a primary heat source. It is hoped that this will be available shortly.
Another area of increase seems to be the use of wooden flooring throughout the ground floor. Many of our clients are now discarding the old carpet and rug route and instead are fitting solid or engineered oak in either narrow or wide plank designs. All the woods we offer are from sustainable sources thereby ensuring our future heritage. Should you require information regarding any of our products and services please contact Dean Erdman, Terry Waller or Rob Medley.