Looking Forward: 2020

We hate to mention the ‘C’ word just yet – but the next Christmas holiday season is just around the corner. Some may think it’s too soon to start planning for 2020’s market trends, but industry-leading systems company Liniar is already looking ahead.

For Liniar, it’s never too early to start capturing the imaginations of home and property owners – and giving fabricators something to look forward to in the future. We take a look at the probable trends for the upcoming year and how our industry can capitalise on trends from seemingly unrelated industries.

Interior Design

The exterior of a home is increasingly planned to flow well into the interior – which is why this industry is ideally placed to advise homeowners on the windows, doors, conservatories and outdoor products they choose.

We begin with Pantone’s 2020 Colour of the Year – announced as P 115-1 U, a glorious bluish toned white called Bleached Coral. This off-white shade, along with browns, greens and muted blues, is expected to take centre stage in interior design after the New Year. We expect design trends to run along two themes: Rugged Industrial and Earthy – including indoor plants, upcycled furniture and natural materials – as more consumers join the environmentally friendly trend.

For those of us in the fenestration industry, these trends are perfectly aligned with bringing the outdoors in, and we’re experts at making that happen. Fabricators and installers should expect a continued increase in demand for products such as bi-folding windows, bi-fold doors, lean-to conservatories, orangeries and lantern roofs, sliding patio doors and French doors – perhaps in earthy colours and grey tones including Agate and Anteak. These products offer homeowners the opportunity to create a blended space of the indoors and outdoors, offering fresh air and copious amounts of natural light.

Changing Climate

There’s no denying the change in the temperatures we’ve seen over the last decade. Some of the warmest seasons have been in the last five years, and that trend doesn’t look to be changing anytime soon. This increase in hotter summers and balmier winters has homeowners taking advantage, with more green space in their gardens, decking areas for BBQs and also small conservatories to escape from those summer downpours.

Consumer desires are already adapting to the shift in the climate – and this can be seen in Google search trends, backed up by Liniar’s own website analytics. For the first time in decades, the terms ‘lean-to conservatory’ and ‘orangery’ have surpassed ‘Victorian conservatory’ in both Liniar website page views and in general UK Google searches.

Sustainability and Eco-friendly Products

It’s no secret that the public is more aware of the impact the products they buy have on the planet, and the trend for more sustainable goods and methods isn’t going anywhere. In fact, the demand for recyclable products and components made from recycled materials are set to arise – including the desire to buy from companies which are eco-friendly, with the smallest carbon footprint possible.

Liniar’s been ahead of the curve in this respect since the mid-1990s, when the company began recycling all its operational waste into new products, Liniar’s 100% recycled PVCu piling for flood defence and retention is a successful range sold into eco-conscious organisations including the National Trust and the Environment Agency. Partially recycled decking and fencing ranges also add to these credentials, with the Liniar site having been a zero operational wastage facility for over 25 years.

2020’s anticipated sustainability and eco trends echo those we’ve seen rise this year. We expect demand for recycled / recyclable goods to continue to rise and surpass alternative materials like timber for decking – in both the domestic and holiday home markets.

Brexit and British Made

Potentially the biggest impact on 2020 market trends is Brexit – or at least the type of Brexit we see post 31 October 2019. Buyer confidence has been falling steadily over the last two years – and financial publications are predicting a recession heading into the next year.

Unpredictable pricing and potential customs issues mean that goods which are designed, tooled and manufactured in the UK will be more popular than those which come from the continent or farther afield. This offers increased opportunities for UK-based systems companies, fabricators and installers, creating British value within our own industry.

Liniar’s been preparing for Brexit since the Referendum in 2016. Read more about Liniar’s Brexit plan by visiting https://www.liniar.co.uk/blog/impact-of-no-deal-brexit-for-fenestration-industry/.