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he last decade has seen homeowners improving their current homes rather than moving up the property ladder. This trend

includes using outdoor space as an extension of the home for relaxation and entertainment, which makes the landscaping sector an important part of the building industry. So what exactly do homeowners look for when it comes to landscaping their gardens? “We have seen a significant increase in sales of our premium sandstone ranges such as Artisan Mirage and Serenity as well as our new Petrous Porcelain products,” says Julian Wood, managing director, at Global Stone. “The trends for garden design continue to move towards contemporary designs, increased hard landscaping, more sophisticated products and using the outdoor space as an extension of the home. People want to enjoy the space rather than work in the garden, hence a demand for easy to maintain porcelain paving tiles.”

The landscaping market has been a turbulent one in recent years with

customer confidence playing a large part in the fortunes of the sector.

“Market analysts are predicting growth of around 20% per annum for the next few years and this combined with the increase in the growth of the construction market, demand for new housing and more competitive costs of importing goods, means prospects for the next few years remain buoyant for

the hard landscaping market,” he says.Increasing markets bring with the

fresh challenges in terms of matching supply to demand, says Andrew Gill, marketing manager, at Brett Landscaping.

“From 2008 through to 2013 the hard landscaping market saw a significant decrease in sales whilst customer confidence has been very fragile. The slight increase in 2011 saw some optimism but this was lost as the market fell back again in 2012. However, since 2013/2014 the market has been very much stronger with a greater feeling of confidence. Although this brings with it a fresh set of challenges.

“In some respects we are lucky when it comes to forecasting because hard landscaping is generally the last part of a project to be finished. As such,

Kevin Stanley speaks to key players from the landscaping sector to find out what has been happening and what the future holds.

T

Landscaping The future of

Above: Bradstone’s Mode Porcelain. Left: AS Buff Brown from Global Stone

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we look at the ongoing commercial and housebuilding markets as our barometer where the hard landscaping generally pulls through around 12–18 months after the project start. On this basis we see the market remaining strong for some time to come which will require merchants to work with their suppliers to ensure continuity of supply.”.

Other issues are affecting the sector, not least that of surface water management, he says, as the economy demands up to 300,000 new homes per year. “This means we will inevitably lose greenfield sites which will reduce

the ability of our landscape to absorb rainwater, increasing the volume of surface water runoff. Match this trend with climate change creating a warmer wetter environment and the need to preserve our environment and we see this becoming a major development issue for the medium term. If something is not done it will become harder to obtain insurance against flooding which could well make some properties unsaleable – especially developments in what has previously been seen as marginal land. Hard landscaping can be seen as both part of the problem – but also with the advent of permeable

paving as a key part of the solution.”Gill also believes that the uptake of

BIM (which will be become mandatory on Government funded projects in 2016) within the development process will be a factor in relationships between merchants and manufacturers. “If we look at BIM not only as a design tool but also as a procurement and maintenance tool, then this becomes an area where we see great potential for merchants to add value to supply chains. However, this will require close liaison between merchants and both their suppliers and their customers to gain the maximum benefit.”

Imported suppliesThe question of supply is an interesting one to look at as much of the stone in the market is imported. Malcolm Gough, business development director, at Natural Paving Products says : “We’ve seen some landscaping suppliers trying to promote their products as superior quality based on a perceived stone ‘standard’. The reality, however, is that the stone itself is not really the differentiator for Indian stone manufacturers, as most of the imported stone in the UK comes from the same area and similar quarries.

“Rather, its more about the way that the stone is processed, manufactured, quarried, packaged and imported, as well as the ethical performance of the importer, which signifies the real difference in product quality – and we’re finding that the industry does understand this differentiation.

“We’ve noticed a shift in customer demand towards a more crisply uniform

finish, in perfect condition products and of course, as a natural material, stone does not readily lend itself to this. There is a need for manufacturers to up their game here, which is something we are already responding to and are looking at ways to achieve a more ‘perfect’ product, as such we’ve invested heavily in new machinery and factories in India, as well as investing in improved packaging so that the products are better protected and arrive in impeccable condition. We’ll also be looking at investing heavily to promote the new vitrified porcelain range.”

Jennie Lumley, brand manager at Stonemarket says new products can

invigorate the market and keep things fresh and supports the stance taken to maintain controls over quality and ensure high quality materials.

“From our new range of natural stone products for 2015, Beachside Sandstone has been exceptionally popular. We’ve done a lot of work this year to promote our range of stone paving as late last year we undertook in-house testing of a number of sandstones available readily

Above: Mirage Buff Linear from Global Stone. Left: Marshalls’ Fairstone King Size Versuro

Below: Stonemarket’s Vitrifed Lucent Copper and, Left: the company’s Templeton Driveway Setts in ViennaFar left: Marshalls’ Drivesys Split Stone. Top left: Global Stone’s Petrous Anthracite

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on the market. This testing revealed that many sandstones are technically sub-standard, not even meeting the British Standard, making them unfit for outdoor use. At Stonemarket we have ensured that all of our stones either meet or exceed the British Standard and we have called this The Stone Standard,”she says.

“Sales of our new range of Vitrified paving have exceeded even our expectations. It is a fantastic product with a wide range of benefits and installers and homeowners absolutely love it. A new contemporary driveway product that we launched in 2015 called Templeton Setts, has also sold exceptionally well. This is a part of our driveway systems range which feature a contoured base and the right amount of jointing compound, making it easier and quicker to install.”

Speed of installation is something that contractors constantly push manufacturers to improve. And new products also keep customers interested in a market that keeps moving with the times and trends.

Liam Poole, brand manager at Marshalls says that this year has seen an excellent take up of some of new Systems products. “Because of the way our Drivesys and Pavesys products are engineered they significantly reduce laying time so installers can move onto the next job quicker, in turn, merchants are able to sell more products.”

He adds: “Large plan sizes and clean contemporary lines are also very popular at the moment so our large Fairstone Sandstone products are selling really well and there has also been a resurgence in other natural materials, such as Granite. This year we also launched a range of Vitrified paving which is proving exceptionally popular.”

““Suppliers and merchants would be able to sell more product if there was a wider talent pool available for installers to recruit from. “ Toby Stuart-Jervis

There are many varying factors that can affect the success of a sector. In the short-term a factor such as weather can play a large role. “In terms of sales, merchants were all set for a good first quarter but the landscaping season was late in getting started this year due to poor weather during the Easter and May holidays,” says Toby Stuart-Jervis, commercial director at Bradstone.

Other factors that can have long-

term effects are problems such as skills shortage. “There is a serious skills shortage in the sector. With their order books full, business is good for landscapers; however a limited pool of landscapers restricts the number of jobs that can be accommodated. Suppliers and merchants would be able to sell more product if there was a wider talent pool available for installers to recruit from,” he says.

Whilst other long-term factors range from environmental concerns to issues with legislation. If merchants are aware of all of the issues surrounding a certain sector they can be better equipped to deal with any problems that may arise.

The final hurdle to get over is the hangover from the recession. Back at Marshalls, Liam Poole says: “As we emerge from a global recession a major driver is pent up demand. Consumer confidence was extremely low during these years and so homeowners weren’t embarking on expensive garden or driveway revamps.

“However consumer confidence is now at a record high and this is starting to drive demand. And with low interest rates people can borrow for big projects. Therefore my message for merchants is this - if you get the value added stock on the ground, you will sell it, because demand is there and will remain for the foreseeable future.”

With all of the stumbling blocks to overcome and external forces acting upon the market you’d be forgiven for thinking that it was all doom and gloom. But it’s not the case, the market looks strong and set to grow, and predictions for the coming years are positive.

If predictions are correct and sales do continue to increase in the near future the landscaping market will be a very interesting sector in which to be involved but also a market where ever greater co-operation between manufacturers and merchants will be required in order to keep sales moving and customers satisfied.

Global Stone’s Serenity. Above: Serenity Setts in Buff, Far Left: Sandlewood Serenity. Left: Bradstone’s Toby Stuart-Jervis

Below: Bradstone Mode Paving in Textured Beige