Gone very quiet

Author
Discussion

Hoofy

76,396 posts

283 months

Wednesday 28th October 2020
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dirky dirk said:
I dot know why but im in airfreight, and its booming,
more imports than exports but were absolutely flying towards best year weve had
Probably due to an increase in online shopping. Don't worry, though, if we don't have many exports, the money will dry up and there won't be many imports.

jester

dirky dirk

3,016 posts

171 months

Wednesday 28th October 2020
quotequote all
The freight costs are hampering exports

particular LATAM and USA,
and the fact that airports are switching on and off,
as an exporter quite often ive been using plane finder apps to see whos flying where and when,
Broadly speaking though my emplyers seems well placed
theyll be lots that will be gone by spring though


jammy-git

29,778 posts

213 months

Wednesday 28th October 2020
quotequote all
I would guess, if the pound tanks come January, that might help soften the blow to exports a little. Just no one is going to know how to export! hehe

Hoofy

76,396 posts

283 months

Wednesday 28th October 2020
quotequote all
jammy-git said:
I would guess, if the pound tanks come January, that might help soften the blow to exports a little. Just no one is going to know how to export! hehe
nuts

singlecoil

33,699 posts

247 months

Wednesday 4th November 2020
quotequote all
I make kitchens, and have four serious enquiries/designs/quotes on the go right now. If I can get the prices right then I'll get the jobs as these are all people who are having extensions or serious rebuilding projects and don't have working kitchens right now.

How I'll do the jobs bearing in mind it's just me and Clancy (my new 8x4 CNC router) is another question.

DSLiverpool

14,764 posts

203 months

Wednesday 4th November 2020
quotequote all
dirky dirk said:
I dot know why but im in airfreight, and its booming,
more imports than exports but were absolutely flying towards best year weve had
Hope you win the vaccine gig - will be huge!

Sheepshanks

32,807 posts

120 months

Wednesday 4th November 2020
quotequote all
singlecoil said:
I make kitchens, and have four serious enquiries/designs/quotes on the go right now. If I can get the prices right then I'll get the jobs as these are all people who are having extensions or serious rebuilding projects and don't have working kitchens right now.

How I'll do the jobs bearing in mind it's just me and Clancy (my new 8x4 CNC router) is another question.
How much work (time) would each kitchen take? To be honest, that doesn't sound like much of a pipeline, unless your conversion rate is pretty well 100%

Being mostly stuck at home, my view is pretty narrow, but half the houses in our village seem to be having the kitchen/diner extension on the back done at the moment.

plasticpig

12,932 posts

226 months

Wednesday 4th November 2020
quotequote all
Sheepshanks said:
How much work (time) would each kitchen take? To be honest, that doesn't sound like much of a pipeline, unless your conversion rate is pretty well 100%

Being mostly stuck at home, my view is pretty narrow, but half the houses in our village seem to be having the kitchen/diner extension on the back done at the moment.
Being stuck at home is one of the big factors in this. Not going on holiday and saving money due to no commute means people have more money to spend on home improvements.

singlecoil

33,699 posts

247 months

Wednesday 4th November 2020
quotequote all
Sheepshanks said:
singlecoil said:
I make kitchens, and have four serious enquiries/designs/quotes on the go right now. If I can get the prices right then I'll get the jobs as these are all people who are having extensions or serious rebuilding projects and don't have working kitchens right now.

How I'll do the jobs bearing in mind it's just me and Clancy (my new 8x4 CNC router) is another question.
How much work (time) would each kitchen take? To be honest, that doesn't sound like much of a pipeline, unless your conversion rate is pretty well 100%

Being mostly stuck at home, my view is pretty narrow, but half the houses in our village seem to be having the kitchen/diner extension on the back done at the moment.
WIth Clancy's help and some other stuff I've been doing, plus a bit of outsourcing (e.g. pre-lacquered birch ply) I'm hoping to get it down to less than 4 weeks average, but the time varies pretty much with the size and complexity of the kitchens, which as you can imagine is very variable.

My conversion rate depends pretty much on my prices, and I'm very focussed on that, hence the investments.

LaurasOtherHalf

21,429 posts

197 months

Wednesday 4th November 2020
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Where are you getting your pre-laquered birch ply from SC?

singlecoil

33,699 posts

247 months

Wednesday 4th November 2020
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I've only had a sample so far, but I'll be getting it from my normal suppliers in Northampton

https://www.ecotimberpanels.co.uk/

mike74

3,687 posts

133 months

Thursday 5th November 2020
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Canute said:
The economy was in relatively good condition prior to this with low-unemployment, the housing market a little overheated perhaps.
You do realise our supposed ''low unemployment'' figures were/are only due to huge levels of underemployment thanks to the wonders of in work benefits subsidising all the part time workers and non-viable hobby jobs and as for describing the housing market as ''perhaps a little overheated'' that's got to be the understatement of the decade.

singlecoil

33,699 posts

247 months

Wednesday 18th November 2020
quotequote all
singlecoil said:
Sheepshanks said:
singlecoil said:
I make kitchens, and have four serious enquiries/designs/quotes on the go right now. If I can get the prices right then I'll get the jobs as these are all people who are having extensions or serious rebuilding projects and don't have working kitchens right now.

How I'll do the jobs bearing in mind it's just me and Clancy (my new 8x4 CNC router) is another question.
How much work (time) would each kitchen take? To be honest, that doesn't sound like much of a pipeline, unless your conversion rate is pretty well 100%

Being mostly stuck at home, my view is pretty narrow, but half the houses in our village seem to be having the kitchen/diner extension on the back done at the moment.
WIth Clancy's help and some other stuff I've been doing, plus a bit of outsourcing (e.g. pre-lacquered birch ply) I'm hoping to get it down to less than 4 weeks average, but the time varies pretty much with the size and complexity of the kitchens, which as you can imagine is very variable.

My conversion rate depends pretty much on my prices, and I'm very focussed on that, hence the investments.
Looks very much like it's going to be all four. Some serious production planning is going to be needed! My sympathies to those of us who haven't got a queue, though I'd have to say that I've had to apply some serious downward pressure to my prices, so the only way this is going to be good for me is if I can do them quickly.

Spitwad

270 posts

43 months

Saturday 21st November 2020
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I'm heavily involved in primary distribution I.e. from factory to warehouse. My business is split between ambient grocery & promotional FSDU (free standing display units) so more or less everything I do ends up in the supermarkets one way or the other.

In March it all ground to a halt. Every single client closed within a week of each other. They crept back & from May to now it boomed. The supermarkets have been net beneficiaries this year & I've ridden on the coat tails. The major concern now is Brexit. My work is entirely domestic but all my clients either import raw materials or finished goods from Europe & none of them are forecasting volumes that would get my boots on in January or February 2021.

loafer123

15,451 posts

216 months

Sunday 22nd November 2020
quotequote all
singlecoil said:
Looks very much like it's going to be all four. Some serious production planning is going to be needed! My sympathies to those of us who haven't got a queue, though I'd have to say that I've had to apply some serious downward pressure to my prices, so the only way this is going to be good for me is if I can do them quickly.
It sounds like you are too cheap.

A wise man once told me to raise prices until the orders stopped, than drop back a touch.

singlecoil

33,699 posts

247 months

Sunday 22nd November 2020
quotequote all
loafer123 said:
singlecoil said:
Looks very much like it's going to be all four. Some serious production planning is going to be needed! My sympathies to those of us who haven't got a queue, though I'd have to say that I've had to apply some serious downward pressure to my prices, so the only way this is going to be good for me is if I can do them quickly.
It sounds like you are too cheap.

A wise man once told me to raise prices until the orders stopped, than drop back a touch.
Good idea in theory. I don't get that many enquiries that I can take a chance on a strategy like that. People who approach me have quite often had a quote already from somebody like DIY Kitchens or Howdens.

Sheepshanks

32,807 posts

120 months

Sunday 22nd November 2020
quotequote all
singlecoil said:
Looks very much like it's going to be all four. Some serious production planning is going to be needed! My sympathies to those of us who haven't got a queue, though I'd have to say that I've had to apply some serious downward pressure to my prices, so the only way this is going to be good for me is if I can do them quickly.
If each one takes a month that doesn't sound an unreasonable pipeline - we've been informally talking to people connected with the building trade and and they're all slammed until April/May next year, sometimes further.

I guess your issue, with each job taking a month so your number of customers is extremely limited, would be that if someone drops out or pushes back, it's hard to find other work to take up the slack.

C Lee Farquar

4,069 posts

217 months

Sunday 22nd November 2020
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Better than concrete, we're rarely booked much above two days ahead. By the time you realise it's quiet, it's too late.

This year has been OK, up on last year.

RegMolehusband

3,964 posts

258 months

Sunday 22nd November 2020
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My company has been one of the winners this year. Online sales of high value goods for the home (with some B2B spin-off), though it's not just ecommerce, we offer added value services as well. Fortunately, the UK manufacturers that we depend upon only shut down for a 3-4 weeks.

We are 20% up on last year although some of this will be as a result of a website and branding upgrade. I've taken on an extra member of the team to make sure that a high level of customer service is maintained.

I really feel for those in negatively affected sectors. I can't image what it must have been like, and still is.

Phooey

12,609 posts

170 months

Sunday 22nd November 2020
quotequote all
RegMolehusband said:
Online sales
The online-selling game has been injected with steroids this year - we've had little choice than to mostly buy online so easy to see why. I do hope though that in the future proper bricks and mortar shops have some kind of comeback. It'll take a lot of hard work, and mostly from the gov / councils to bring the love back to the high street. I grew up from market trading to shop-on-the-high-street to online selling so can see the change as much as anyone. Buying anything you want online and getting it next day with zero risk (guarantees) is the future no doubt, but it's sadly destroying the freedom and enjoyment of "going shopping". I'm fully involved in it, but I hate what online selling has brought with it. Just my 2p.