Kestrel ‘cautious optimism’ as we move out of lockdown

As the country heads out of lockdown, Kestrel sales and marketing director Owen Thorogood feels there are reasons to be optimistic – not least because it means a return to his favourite curry restaurant!

“It’s been an incredibly challenging time for the Kestrel team and our customers. But everyone has adapted and if we look at what happened the last time we came out of lockdown, then we can be cautiously optimistic that there will be a bounce back for the industry.

“There are areas of the market that have been particularly badly affected by the pandemic and are now experiencing a significant increase in demand.

“We also know that people have saved money during lockdown and, if last year is repeated, they will be spending this on home renovations.”

The extension to the stamp duty holiday and the Help to Buy scheme also helps demand, but that comes with its own issues.

“We were all taken by surprise by the strength of demand last year, which was a global issue, that continued right up until Christmas.

“Raw material costs rose far more than expected and the strain on supply is making forecasting more difficult. If you add in the question mark over whether we will face future lockdowns, that does make the market hard to predict.”

The business development team at Kestrel adapts to support customers in the pandemic and has seen benefits.

“We’re in touch with each other and customers through Zoom or Teams. The advantage is that it’s helped us to pack more into the day.

“As lockdown lifts, we’ll keep using online systems to keep in touch as well as getting back on the road for meetings and site visits.

“We’re all overdue a bit of normality. I personally can’t wait to go out for a curry and am crossing my fingers we can finally get that rescheduled holiday in the sun!”