A question we are often asked by customers is what are your lead times? essentially the time from the customer placing an order to the installation date. Pre COVID this was 4-6 weeks on average, however things have changed a lot since then to 12+ weeks from the point of survey.
This is not just an issue for Gardinia, long lead times of 12+ weeks are industry wide caused by a number of factors affecting most reputable companies in various ways.
Factories are only working to a limited capacity due in part to the staggered return from lockdown, in addition the raw martials and parts obtained from abroad are simply not readily available at the moment, causing a knock on effect coupled with unprecedented demand.
We can see from a poll ran by Double Glazing Blogger throughout September that more than 70% of installation companies had a lead time of 8 weeks or longer, with 12+ weeks been the most popular option on the poll:
Demand could remain high for at least another year as homeowners are unable to realistically travel abroad, footfall in pubs, bars and restaurants is limited and other major purchases are off the table, leading disposable income that would have normally been spent elsewhere to be invested in to home improvements.
It’s not just the double glazing industry that has long lead time though, we contacted a company to install a new internet connection in our warehouse back in August and we’re quoted an installation date in mid September, sadly we’re still waiting!
Likewise due to the unprecedented demand for IT hardware we’ve seen 2+ week lead times for getting new laptops delivered, historically we could get a Laptop from our usual supplier delivered next day if we wanted.
This is not just in the UK though, this lunch time I was reading an article on a US based website on how the pandemic had made buying an Nintendo Switch games console difficult. With things like that in mind you probably want to start your Christmas shopping sooner or later this year, just to factor in the longer lead / delivery times now becoming a lot more normal in many different industries.
However don’t let longer lead times put you off, the same high quality installation will still be completed, it will just be under a longer time frame.
Why not contact us to arrange a free, no obligation consultation? Gardinia do not believe in using any hard-sell tactics, our aim is to inspire and narrow down exactly what you desire from the completed project.
