Demand for Pura Facades’ range of natural cladding solutions has unexpectedly risen since the coronavirus lockdown, with the supplier of lightweight glass reinforced concrete (GRC) products reporting year-to-date sales nearly doubling when compared to the same period last year. Since the end of March 2020, the façade specialist has secured projects worth £1.7 million, one of its best ever trading periods.
This surprise news flies in the face of data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which reported earlier this month (May 2020) that UK construction output had fallen by 5.9% month-on-month in March 2020. Given the fact that social restrictions in the UK were not introduced until 23 March, it is widely expected that output for April and May will be significantly worse.
The London-based company is delighted with the unexpected upturn in new projects, which it anticipates will increase its annual revenues to approximately £7.5m in 2020.
New projects confirmed by Pura in the last few months include the recladding of Fulham Football Club’s Stadium at Craven Cottage, Birmingham’s iconic Symphony Hall, Berkeley Group’s Clarendon Works in Wood Green, Ark Soane Academy in Acton, Stephenson House mixed use development in London and the University of Strathclyde.
Commenting on the upturn in business, James Butler, commercial director at Pura Facades, said: “In many ways, this lockdown period enabled us to focus on getting designs done and estimating completed. Unhindered by on-site operational issues, specifiers were able to focus their attention of pipeline projects – which have now come to fruition.
“In truth, this rise in orders is really down to the hard work of our team over the last few months and years, forging strong relationships with architects, designers and contractors – demonstrating the A1 safety credentials and competitive price of Pura’s lightweight GRC offer. During the post-Grenfell era, developers are keen to explore materials that provide first class non-flammable and aesthetic properties, while delivering on disciplined budgets. They are also looking for cladding partners who offer a complete service including design, engineering, on-site support and the full sub-grid to support the GRC panels themselves.”
