Significant opportunities remain in the commercial sector despite the Con Lib administrations round of spending cuts according to leading commentators.

Speaking at the Profile 22 Authorised Commercial Manufacturer Conference, Julie Adkin, chief executive, Focal Research, argued while there had been a tightening, significant areas of work remained in the commercial sector and many others were, perhaps more importantly, increasingly independent of government funding.

This included continuing opportunities within the education sector, despite high profile cuts to previous flagship projects, including the Building Schools for the Future programme.

Speaking in front of an audience of 30 Profile 22 Authorised Commercial Manufacturers, Adkin said a number of notable funding streams currently remained intact including the £7.2 billion Primary Capital Programme. “Statistically, there is a growing need to provide more primary school places, so this will have to be addressed in future plans somehow”, she said.

Her assessment of the social housing sector also gave reason for optimism. Despite cuts, she suggested opportunity remained in comparative abundance. She said that a large number of Local Authority registered providers had moved (or were moving) from local authority or ALMO status to HA (housing association) registration, allowing them to join existing HAs in raising monies independently of government through rental revenue, stock sell-offs or re-mortgaging, to pay for stock refurbishment.

She said: “353 LAs used to own stock and be fully reliant on the Government for management, maintenance and refurbishment funds, now only 178 remain (i.e. a reduction of around 50 per cent) and the balance now operate as HA registered providers”.

She suggested that significantly, these HA providers frequently brought with them uncompleted works from the Decent Homes Programme and were among the best prospects within the sector as the dust fell and the new administration’s policies became clearer over the next 12 months.

The Profile 22 ACM Conference is one of a series of events organised by the systems company to give fabricators operating in the commercial sector access critical market intelligence. In addition to analysis of the rapidly shifting commercial market presentations included discussion of changes to Parts L and F of the Building Regulations and the Code for Sustainable Homes.

Pilkington Glass’ Tony Smith also attended the market development manager for the glass giant, offering his thoughts on the future shape of the industry. This included the suggestion of a possible tightening of Part L to a minimum WER ‘B’ rating by 2013 [and ‘A’ by 2016].

He added that the conservatories could also find themselves falling under the regulators gaze with the introduction of possible new minimum and maximum G and U-values and a possible full WER calculation three years later.

During following discussions many members of the scheme who also operated in domestic markets also expressed their concern that the BFRC WER scheme was not effectively policed and that there was little to ‘nothing stopping unaccredited manufacturers or installers printing out ratings labels and sticking them on’. A suggestion was made in response that this needed to be readdressed by accreditation bodies and the industry more broadly.

Andrew Reid, sales development director, Profile 22 said: “We’re seeing a period of unprecedented change within our own industry and within the markets that we serve. Understanding those changes and their implications will be critical for businesses operating within the commercial sector going forward. It’s not that the work isn’t there it’s much more that you need to change the way you look for it.”

View more information on the Approved Commercial Manufacturers’ scheme online, or watch conference highlights.

Building Regulations (important changes to Part L) how this will affect your business

Manton from Simon Air Vents presenting on changes to Document F www.rwsimon.co.uk

Tony Smith from Pilkington Glass – developments in the glass industry and future building regulation compliance www.pilkington.com

Code Green (Code for Sustainable Homes), Presentation by Jason Shaw @ Code Green www.codegreen.ltd.uk

Overview of market sectors Social Housing, New Build and Education – understand market direction and where best to target your efforts. Julie Adkin, Managing Director @ Focal Research www.focalresearch.co.uk

Benefits package overview + promotion of Approved Commercial Manufacturers scheme & feedback, Wendy Hinett

FACTBOX: Authorised Commercial Manufacturer Scheme from Profile 22 at a glance 

• Profile 22 launched its new Commercial Manufacturer Scheme early last year. It has been developed to support Profile 22’s existing commercial fabricators to generate new leads and to support others in moving into the commercial sector. 
• It gives existing qualifying commercial fabricators access to a dedicated lead generation service plus marketing, design and specification support. Customers of those qualifying fabricators can also draw on the experience of Profile 22’s own in-house specification team who offer a dedicated support service to the specifier. This includes surveying, design drawings, CPD seminars, sector overiews and information on building regulations. 
• Fabricators who are considering entering the market can also access a full menu of support but will need to achieve Profile 22 approved status first. This includes attending a ‘commercial awareness’ courses. Covering everything from contract management law to estimating for profit, the courses are delivered through highly accredited trainers and give would-be commercial fabricators a detailed grounding.