Demand for new windows and doors at CR Smith has yet to be dampened by difficult economic conditions as the Scottish home improvement group has benefitted from the demise of market rivals.

Director George Eadie said sales volumes in the current year are marginally higher than in 2021, when CR Smith Glaziers recorded a 10 per cent increase in profit as it emerged from closures enforced by Covid lockdown restrictions. It comes after other firms such as CMS Enviro Systems, Custommade Group and Synseal Extrusions have ceased trading.

“Demand is being driven by energy consciousness, it is being driven by the fact that we are still in business while others have fallen by the wayside, and it is being driven by a number of social housing commercial contracts that we have picked up,” Mr Eadie said.

Among the latter was an £8 million contract signed earlier this year with property management group C~urb, part of the Link Group of affordable housing associations, covering a portfolio of sites across Scotland.

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Mr Eadie said retail customers still make up the majority of business, accounting for about 70% of volumes. However the commercial side – which would have made up about 20% of sales five years ago – has been expanding.

Referring to a December 2020 report by consumer advice group Which? that ranked CR Smith top in a national poll of customer satisfaction, Mr Eadie attributed the company’s success to the quality of its goods and services. This has included continued product development and the introduction of new digital systems to enhance its marketing, sales and design processes.

“We all know about the current economic uncertainties, but people still want to enhance their properties and they want to do it well,” he said.

“We have worked hard to deliver against this challenging market. We have been at this for about 50 years, and anybody who has been in business for 50 years will have dealt with adversity before.”

The company is owned by Mr Eadie’s brother, Gerard Eadie, who purchased the business as a 22-year-old in 1974 and has led it since. He now holds the post of executive chairman.

The Herald: Gerard EadieGerard Eadie (Image: CR Smith)

CR Smith Glaziers currently employs about 250 people from its headquarters in Dunfermline and further sites in Cowdenbeath, Aberdeen, Inverness and Glasgow. Its sister company, CR Smith Manufacturing, employs roughly a further 150 people making windows, doors and conservatories for the domestic business.

Accounts newly filed with Companies House show that CR Smith Glaziers made a profit of £169,500 on revenues of £20.3m during the year to the end of December 2021. This compared to profits of £130,900 during the 16 months to the end of December 2020, when revenues were £23.6m.

The company changed its reporting period in 2020 to account for the fact its was shut down for four months because of the pandemic. The 2021 accounting period also included a shut-down from the beginning of the year through to early April.

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Monthly turnover averaged £1.47m during the 16-month period, compared to £1.69m last year. On the same basis operating profit rose from £10,639 to £14,666 per month, an increase of nearly 38%.

“Having worked hard to anticipate and deliver against this challenging market, we have seen turnover steadily increase,” Mr Eadie said. “The careful management of our financial commitments and costs has meant that we are also able to invest healthy profits back into the business."

“We hold a strong position in the home improvements market and remain confident that the measures we have put in place will continue to support future growth.”

CR Smith received £1.07m of government grants last year as part of the UK’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, along with £2.3m of such grants in the previous financial period.