Ironmongery Direct notes surge in home improvement

House owners stay put and begin to spend on quality refurbishment says Ironmongery Direct.

Some Britons are shelving plans to move house for the foreseeable future and are prepared to make substantial improvements to their homes instead - sparking a boom in the building trade.

That's the finding of Ironmongery Direct - the UK's leading supplier of architectural ironmongery products.

The recent downturn in the UK economy - driven by the credit crunch - means the country's home owners are going in for more expensive refurbishing to give their homes a new look.

"The evidence from sales at Ironmongery Direct points to home owners rejecting the smaller DIY jobs around the house and opting to make major, quality improvements to their properties instead," says Wayne Lysaght-Mason, Managing Director of Ironmongery Direct.

Lysaght-Mason believes attitude points to property owners preparing to batten down the hatches and sit out a looming recession in their existing 'new look' homes.

It's a trend which is benefitting Ironmongery Direct while the more well known DIY chains are suffering.

BandQ has just recorded a ten per cent fall in its Year on Year sales and analysts are predicting an even bigger slump for its main rival Homebase.

Meanwhile as the country's leading DIY suppliers struggle from the effects of a credit squeeze and a downturn in consumer willingness to spend Ironmongery Direct has found room to grow.

Ironmongery Direct says it is bucking the trend and enjoying impressive growth figures spurred on by a boom in sales of high-end home improvement products.

It has recorded a 40 per cent growth in sales year-on-year since 2006.

The company also attributes its growing order book to extended hours of business and a more streamlined strategy.

"This is shaping up to be a far better year than many people first expected for those builders who concentrate on the domestic and smaller business market." says Lysaght-Mason, Managing Director.

"We have just launched our 58th catalogue and added a number of new ranges to the 11,500 products we already hold in stock for next day delivery, in response to increased customer demand.

"While many bigger building businesses are struggling our customers are doing well.

People are looking for quality in the finishing touches made to any home improvements.

This is reassuring for us as we deal in those quality products".

Lysaght-Mason, who is credited with many of the restructuring innovations which have been introduced at Ironmongery Direct, says 2008 is going to be a good year for the building trade despite the obvious pressures on the economy.

"It's clear from the feedback we get from our customers that thousands of home owners are putting plans to move on hold and preparing to invest in their current properties" he says.

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