Success is starting to flow for the UK Bathroom market in 2014

A recent research report from MTW Research into the UK bathroom market has suggested that bathroom retailers' sales will surpass the performance of the country's economy in 2014, the report goes on to state that this is due to 'steadily returning' consumer confidence and their adoption of clear market positioning.

After gaining data and views from 90 bathroom retailers, MTW Research has been able to establish that market sales are now £20m more than they were at their lowest point of the recession, factors such as, falling unemployment and growth in the housing market have helped increase buyer confidence. Half of the those in the survey reported sales growth during 2013, while general industry credit levels are shown to have risen on last year's report, with 70% having a positive credit rating in 2013, compared with 60% in 2011.

The KBB sector has shown a significant increase in sales, marketing and management job opportunities available from Pinnacle Consulting. Find out more on our current roles...

However, MTW did also point out that a number of retailers, distributors and manufacturers continued to experience difficulties during 2013 and had found the year challenging.

Commenting on the research MTW director Mark Waddy said: "With industry sales some 11% down on pre-recession levels, there is still some overcapacity in the market with some respondents suggesting that this could be as high as 20%. However, this scenario is abating and all the signs are increasingly positive for those bathroom suppliers who maintain a keen eye on current trends."

The MTW report also indicated that much of the upturn can also be attributed to the clever sales and marketing strategies adopted by many retailers, who by, clearly positioning themselves within the market and offering solutions, such as; advice, design and post-sales support to consumers, have been rewarded accordingly. Independent retailers are said to have been particularly active in looking at improving their service levels. The report also suggests that retailers benefitted from suppliers' stricter distribution policies, which has helped maintain brand value.

The most successful dealers, the report reveals, were those who offered ‘turnkey solutions’, including a full ‘design and fit’ service together with installation and after sales support. This has been a key factor to the resistance to online discounting with growing numbers of retailers deciding that taking this path is a road to disaster.

However, underpinning the increased market confidence is the improving housing market and lower unemployment figures. The Government’s Help to Buy scheme is said to have helped growth, allowing retailers to target the younger generation as well as more affluent 50+ audience, enjoying the extra disposable funds now that their children are leaving home.

But, the report confirmed that the wider bathroom industry continued to find the market challenging as last year came to a close.

Great news for Job Seekers: 2014 is the year of the candidate says new report

The Reed Job Index for December has revealed that - for the first time in five years - new job opportunities are outstripping applicants. This trend is set to continue through 2014 as employers finally start to recruit, after, understandably, being cautious in recent years.

New job opportunities were reported to be 28% up year-on-year, and there was yet more encouraging news for job seekers with salaries rising for the third consecutive month - albeit slowly. 

It is, however, a fantastic time to start searching for a new job and also equally as good a time for employers to find candidates to help their companies grow, especially in the sector which is the leading light of the recovery: construction.

According to the report, the number of job vacancies available in the UK has increased across all industry sectors during the last 12 months but construction and property has been the standout one. Government initiatives to boost house building and infrastructure projects has resulted in a 74% rise in new construction related jobs, and this can only be good news for manufacturers and distributors of building and construction products. At Pinnacle Consulting, we have seen a large increase in construction sales and marketing jobs being, being advertised, especially since the Christmas break.

Why work in the construction industry? Download our guide on why it is the best industry in the world!

As mentioned, The Reed Job Index, which is compiled every month, now stands 28% higher than in December 2012. And, for the third consecutive month, each of the 33 industry sectors listed on the index is showing year-on-year growth in jobs and 11 out of 12 UK regions are showing growth compared to last year. Growth in salaries is slow, but positive, at just 2% over the year.  Overall, the Job Index now stands at 172, up from 138 at the start of 2013.

Commenting on the latest figures, James Reed, chairman of reed.co.uk, says: 
“2013 has been a positive year for the jobs market, with continued growth and new jobs reaching a five year high in the autumn.

“Most significantly, the latest data shows a shift towards a candidate-led market. This is good news for jobseekers and will present a growing challenge to employers as they compete to attract the best talent. 

“What’s more, after such a long period of salary stagnation, candidates will have a stronger negotiating position when it comes to pay, so employers will need to be prepared for a growing wage bill in 2014. 

“The signs indicate a strong 2014. Growth is likely to come from the industries that have shown the biggest increases in the last few months: construction and property; retail; manufacturing; automotive.”

The Reed Job Index is compiled by reed.co.uk, through analysis of job vacancies from over 10,000 recruiters throughout the UK tracked against a baseline of 100 established in December 2009. It is the largest monthly measure of conditions and trends in employment in the UK. Reed.co.uk is the UK’s largest jobs board, receiving a total of over 120 million visits in the last 12 months and 24 million job applications. 

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Look at latest sales management jobs in the construction products industry.

Job in Focus: National Construction Sales Management Role for Heavyside Products

Our Job in Focus for January is a fantastic opportunity to manage a large team of Area Sales Managers across the UK for a leading supplier of heavyside construction products. It would suit a dynamic national man-manager from within the construction market.

Each month Job in Focus takes a more detailed look at some of the fantastic construction, building products, and interiors' products vacancies currently on our books. Job in Focus is also featured on the home page of our website. Take a look at www.pinnacleconsulting.co.uk 

Job Details
Job Title: National Sales Manager
Job Ref: J3862
Product: Heavyside
Location: National
Salary: £60k
Type: Management

EMPLOYER: Our client is a world leading supplier of heavyside products to the construction industry. 

JOB DESCRIPTION: Head of Sales: Fantastic Senior opportunity for the successful candidate to be responsible for the management of the national merchant sales team consisting of 14 area sales managers and 1 regional sales manager. Additional responsibilities include strategic sales development, account and customer development plans, territory plans, KPI management, CRM Systems and coaching and developing of the sales team. In addition the role will incorporate head office negotiations with buying groups as well as national builders merchants.

LOCATION: Covering national, but ideally, will live south of Northamptonshire.

CANDIDATE: We are seeking an exceptional and ultra dynamic national man-manager from within the construction market. This person must have contacts with national merchants and ideally come from a heavyside or related product sales background. In addition to this the candidate will need to be target drive with an understanding of CRM systems, supply chain and negotiation at director/national level with fantastic presentation skills.

PACKAGE: On offer is a basic salary of up to £60,000 plus bonus, car, pension, healthcare, mobile and laptop

For further information or to discuss your career options contact Chris Easom at chris@pinnacleconsulting.co.uk or call 01480 405 225 or apply online here.

Featured Specification Sales Jobs in the Building Products sector - January 2014

January 2014: It has been a positive start to the year for building and construction products' manufacturers and distributors. There has been an increase in demand for products resulting in many starting to recruit to enhance their sales teams.  We have some excellent sales vacancies on our books and, this month, we focus on Specification Sales roles throughout the UK. Specification selling is now a crucial part of a companies sales strategy.

If you are interested in any of these roles or are looking to develop your career, contact us or take a look at our website for more details on specification sales jobs.

• Call us on 01480 405225 to discuss any of our current vacancies
• Email us on recruit@pinnacleconsulting.co.uk
• Visit our website at www.pinnacleconsulting.co.uk to find out about our full range of recruitment services for the building products sector.

Keep informed of ALL our latest jobs when they become available on our Facebook page. Remember to click LIKE! to ensure you receive the full benefits of news, jobs, entertainment, articles, events and promotions.

See below for full details of our featured jobs (click 'Read more' if required).

If you've launched a new and innovative house building product, why not get the reward it deserves...

Manufacturers of housebuilding products invest a lot of time, effort and money in new products or systems. Their aim is to gain competitive advantage by developing many kinds of enhanced product or system benefits e.g. easier installation, increased durability, greater energy-savings, better aesthetics, improved comfort of living, easier operation and maintenance, higher performance and monetary-savings. 

This dedication, hard work and innovation needs to be rewarded and more people should to be aware of these products and the effort which has been put into them - so if you've developed an innovative products in the last 12 months, why not enter the Housebuilder Product Awards 2014 and get the recognition and coverage you deserve?

You can now enter the Housebuilder Product Awards 2014, but the deadline is 14th February, so act quickly. There categories for most product areas of domestic housebuilding, including internal and external products.

The awards are looking to reward excellence and innovation for products and systems which aid new home development in the UK.

Awards categories

• Best Building Fabric Product 
• Best Internal/Interior Product 
• Best Services Product 
• Best Kitchens and Bathrooms Product 
• Best External Product 
• Best Site Product 
• Best Health and Safety Product 
• Best Business Product 
• Best Brand New Product

The winners in each category will be announced at a lunchtime ceremony in July.

Each winner will also be shortlisted in the Best Product Category at Housebuilder's much coveted Housebuilder Awards in November for the chance to be crowned Product of the Year. Find out more here.

If you are a manufacturer of housebuilding products looking to recruit sales, marketing or management professionals, please visit our building products recruitment website.

Shortages in building materials and products are still a major concern: how are you dealing with this issue?

The good news is that housebuilding continued its recovery at the end of 2013, as shown in the latest RICS Construction Market Survey released last week. However, a large number of those surveyed, stated that material shortages are creating a major problem, particularly materials such as, bricks and blocks. 

As we discussed, some months ago, in our article: Where are the building blocks to recovery when you need them, this seems to be an on-going issue for the housebuilding industry and still hasn't been resolved. It affects the whole industry, from the architect, developer, manufacturer, stockist, builder to the homeowner. However, it is still a welcome problem after the doom and gloom of the last few years.

We would like to hear from manufacturers and stockists to understand how you are dealing with this issue and as demand increases during 2014, if you feel supply will get better or worse and what kind of time scale is involved?

RICS survey summary
The survey revealed the private housebuillding sector saw its output increase 7.3% in the first three quarters of 2013 against 2012. 

However, the RICS also said that almost 40% of respondents stated material shortages as a concern and pinpointed bricks and concrete blocks as being in particularly short supply, as were the bricklayers to build them - 36% of respondents to its survey found labour shortages to be constraining activity in Q4 2013. Its research showed a higher percentage of respondents reporting difficulties sourcing skills than at any time since the middle of 2006. 

The outlook for 2014 is very bright with expectations for future construction activity shown to be extremely upbeat with 74 percent more chartered surveyors expecting workloads to increase rather than decrease during 2014. Furthermore, predictions for employment levels and company profits were also very positive, suggesting that the construction sector may at long last be beginning to prosper.

The RICS survey stated: “Predictions for employment levels and company profits were also very positive, suggesting that the construction sector may at long last be beginning to prosper.”

Looking to employ?
With greater levels of work for manufacturers and stockists clearly evident  to supply the housebuilders, many are looking to invest in their workforce. 

If you are a building products manufacturer or stockist looking to recruit for sales or marketing professionals, contact us on 01480 405225 or find out more about our services at www.pinnacleconsulting.co.uk. 

If you are looking for a new job, why not arrange to attend our building industry career development recruitment clinic.

When you recruit with Pinnacle Consulting, you also help one of two building and construction industry charities: CRASH or Lighthouse Club. Find out more.

Building Products Industry FREE Sales Recruitment Clinics Jan 2014

It's a new dawn, it's a new year and it could be a new job for you - then you'll be feeling good! 

If the time is right for a new challenge in construction sales or marketing and you want an independent evaluation of your career? Why not arrange to attend one of our FREE PinBuild Career Development Clinics this January.

PinBuild Clinics are for sales & marketing professionals in the building products, construction & interiors sectors. They provide specialist career advice and a match to our latest vacancies. 

Call us to arrange to meet one of our Specialist Consultants. Tel: 01480 405225 or e-mail recruit@pinnacleconsulting.co.uk

January 2014 PinBuild Clinics

• Thursday 23rd January: Nottingham
• Thursday 30th January: Brentwood

Our current jobs: You might find one you'd like to discuss: Search for building products sales jobs

PinBuild Clinics will evaluate the job seeker’s career to date and identify the best opportunities available. The clinics provide professionals with expert advice on how to progress their career by discussing the industry sectors that have potential for growth, the skills and focus needed to ensure that they develop with the changing nature of the market and how to ensure that their career continues to progress rather than stagnating.

The clinics will also assist those that attend to map out a realistic and achievable career path, including any potential training requirements. Assistance will also be given to evaluate their CV and also their interview technique and where they should focus to ensure they realise their true potential in the building and construction industry.

We specialise in external and internal sales positions, marketing and management roles and director and board appointments with manufacturers, merchants or distributors across the whole building, construction and interiors product spectrum.

Take some time out to read about CRASH the construction industry's charity for homeless people people and one of our industry partners for our charity initiative 'Helping others as you recruit.'

Great news for commercial construction output

Commercial construction output increased at its fastest rate since August 2007 according to figures from the latest Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index. The index also shows that the UK’s construction industry is in its eighth consecutive month of growth. This seems to be proof that the recovery of the construction industry is being sustained and that it is 'well placed' for 2014.

UK construction PMI was 62.1 in December – well above the score of  50 which separates growth from contraction. Although it was slightly down from the 62.6 seen in November, it was encouragingly ahead of expectation for the traditionally quiet December and is the eighth month running it has been above the 50 mark.

If you are looking to recruit, contact Pinnacle Consulting - the construction sales recruitment specialist on 01480 405225

There were “strong output rises” in all three main areas of construction activity - residential, commercial and civil engineering. The major boost in December was due to new commercial building projects and it is biggest growth in this area since before the financial crisis.

Housebuilding remained the fastest growing area of the sector. The construction survey suggested growth in December was broad-based and civil engineering also expanded.

Markit senior economist Tim Moore says: “The latest survey highlights that construction companies enter 2014 with the wind in their sails.

“Most encouragingly, the improving UK economic outlook is helping boost private sector spending patterns, meaning that the construction recovery has started to broaden out from housing demand and infrastructure projects to include strong growth in commercial building work.”

"Over half of all survey respondents anticipate increased output levels during the course of 2014, which is up sharply from one-in-three construction firms that expected growth at the same time one year ago."

IHS Global Insight chief UK and European economist Howard Archer points out that December PMI “almost matched” the 75-month high seen in November, suggesting the sector is “well placed going into 2014”.

“Evidence that the construction sector is sustaining its recent markedly improved performance is obviously good news for overall growth prospects, although it needs to be remembered that the sector only accounts for 6.3 per cent of national output”


"Image courtesy of potowizard / FreeDigitalPhotos.net".

More homes must be built as UK House prices increase

According to the Nationwide Building Society, house prices increased, on average, by 8.4% across the UK during 2013. Does this indicate further proof of a stronger housing market and the growing confidence of buyers or is it not quite as simple as that?

However, hopefully this is good news for distributors and manufacturers of building products, as it is clear that demand is currently ahead of supply and housing stock needs to catch up in the coming months. This is vital, otherwise it is likely that affordability of housing may become a major problem and this could damage the recovery. 

Although low interest rates and initiatives like Help to Buy are helping the market, house price growth is heavily outstripping average earnings, which again underlines our view that now is the time for salaries to increase to help the building industry as well as the general economy. We do not want another housing bubble to be created, new homes must be built to keep the market stable and accessible to potential buyers of all incomes.

Summary of Nationwide's findings

• Prices rose by 1.4% month-on-month in December to £175,826 on average, although still 5% below all-time highs recorded in late 2007.
• The annual increase in prices across the country is the biggest jump seen since June 2010. Every region across the UK saw prices increase year-on-year, ranging from a 14.9% annual increase in London to a 1.9% uplift in the North.
• Manchester is the best-performing area for house price rises in 2013, with prices up by 21% typically over the last year to reach £209,627.
• Carlisle was the worst performer, with a 1% annual increase in prices taking the average value of a home there to £136,128.
• Prices in London are now 14% above their annual peak, with the price of the typical home in the English capital having reached £345,186.
• House prices in Northern Ireland are still around half their 2007 levels, although they have climbed by 7% year-on-year to reach £111,612 on average. 
• London has the most expensive house prices in the UK while Northern Ireland has the cheapest
• Scotland recorded a 3.7% annual increase in house prices, pushing them to £136,729 
• Wales saw prices pick up by 6.1% over the same period, taking the average price there to £139,722.
• In England, prices have increased by 8.6% year-on-year to £205,084 

If you are a building products manufacturer or distributor looking to increase your sales team to help meet the increased demand, please contact us the building products sales and marketing recruitment specialist on 01480 405225 or visit our building products sales recruitment website