It’s fair to say that the past year has been a challenging one. For our business, for our customers and households across the nation, the long term effects of the global pandemic are continuing to be felt. Like many others in the industry, we have had to act with agility to adapt and navigate our business through this what has been a tumultuous year. Happily, there have also been positive outcomes. Thanks to a driven and determined workforce, our business has evolved, and we have come out stronger and ready to face 2022.

One of the biggest challenges of 2021 was the strain on the supply chain. The Office for National Statistics reported that in October, one in six businesses found that they were not able to obtain the materials, goods or services they needed from within the UK or were required to find alternative supplies or solutions. We were not immune to this and were impacted by a lack of virgin PVC-U material, as well limited supplies of packaging and other materials.

Thanks to the fantastic relationships we have with our suppliers, we were predominantly able to maintain a continual supply of our aluminium, steel and other non PVC-U ranges with little disruption. We prioritised orders for our UK market and of course, we occasionally needed to extend lead times with agreement from customers, but generally customers planned ahead to allow for longer deliveries.

The investments we have made into our manufacturing process and recycling capabilities really paid dividends this past year. When access to virgin PVC-U was disrupted, we were able to minimise its impact on the business by using our compounding machinery to recycle post-consumer and post-industrial waste material – typically from plastic windows. This enabled us to maintain a regular supply of our PVC-U products for our customers, as well as continue our approach to recycling and reducing the amount of waste the construction industry generates each year, which you can read about here.

Despite the challenges, we have continued to invest in the business and have adapted our workforce so that we are equipped with the skills and focus to take the business forward into 2022 and beyond. We have made several new hires and have a solid roadmap of new product developments in place, so we enter the new year in a stronger position than pre-pandemic.

As we look ahead to the future, I’d like to thank the entire team at Marshall-Tufflex, for their hard work and dedication this past year. 2022 is a time for both celebration – as it marks our 80^th year of operation, and ambition as we aim to achieve an average of 80% recycled material across our PVC-U trunking and conduit systems. I know we can accomplish this with the continued support of the people that make our company so great.

With a strong workforce in place, and the support of our loyal customers, we look forward to the next chapter.