FORT Fencing
Agricultural & Equine Fencing
2022.FORT April Newsletter
09 April 2022
FORT Customer Update - April 2022
April is a time of renewal. Spring is in progress and while we’re not out of the woods, frost and cold weather begins to ease off as we head towards Summer and long daylight hours. This is the time for building work to become busier, especially for outdoor projects and it’s usually a strong time for garden-based building materials.
April is a time of renewal. Spring is in the progress and while we're not out of the woods, frost and cold weather bring to ease off as we head towards summer and long daylight hours. This is the time for building work to become busier, especially outdoor projects and it's usually a strong time for garden-based building materials.
FORT Progress Update
So, how are we fixed? Are the FORT team ready and able to look after you for all your building materials? Quite simply: YES! FORT continues to grow and we have increased our stock levels in line with our increased business. FORT now carries over £700,000 of stock on the ground. We know we need to ensure that your entire requirements can be services rapidly. We've also increased our transport fleet, with a 3 x 26t rear steer crane offload trucks and 1 x 44t drawbar crane offload unit. On top of this we have 2 x 3.5t trucks to give a highly flexible delivery service.
Most of our deliveries are made on a next working day basis across our large delivery area.
We continue to make good progress on our showroom in Unit B, with the Trex decking show deck now installed and ready to be viewed. The rest will come together.
General Availability & Price Update
That's good news; so what else is happening? Sadly the invasion of Ukraine continues to have a deep impact on supply, through price inflation and also availability. There are so many variables. For example Germany relied heavily on Ukrainian HGV drivers, who are now fighting to maintain their country. This puts a huge strain on driver availability across the EU. Our advice remains the same as previous months:
- We strongly urge you to NOT give any firm price commitments beyong a very short timeframe - availability and inflationary pressures are extremely high
- FORT continues to hold excellent stock levels in most areas. Contact our sales team for further-advice.
Lets look at the key indicators:
Containers: Prices seem to have started to fall but are still way beyond historical norms. We'll have to see what the impact is over the next few months, but as ever, these high prices affect many building products.
Steel: The rise in price continues. This was inevitable and it's likely to go on from here, especially as energy costs rise and fold into production costs.
Timber: The US lumber price is still running at very high levels. Russia was a huge exporter of timber into Europe and therefore the impact on supply will be devastating. UK prices are going to rise as existing stocks get used up. Sanctions are unlikely to be lifted for the forseeable future.
Inflation: The current Russian/Ukrainian war will create yet more inflationary pressure. This has climbed again to over 8% (the highest since 1991) and could well climb further.
FORT's Fencing
It's certainly the season! Over the past month we've had terrible storms, glorious sunshine and then back to heavy frosts and snow, which makes it difficult to plan for many jobs, but inspires a lot of thought about fencing! Here at FORT we have a strong stockholding of fencing and landscaping supplies, including lap & featheredge panels, trellis, incised fence posts, all the rails and boards for building your own fence and now also concrete fencing posts and gravel boards.
If we don't keep it on site, then we're probably able to get it, so please don't hesitate to ask us about your requirements and the team will gladly try and help.
FORT Staff Profile of The Month
Name: Laura
Job Role: Purchase Ledger / Accounts
Hobbies & Interests: Painting, Reading, Accountancy
Previous Work: Accountancy
Joined FORT in: June 2020
I've been an accountant for most of my working life, and it's something that I love. I lived in France for many years, but don't hold that against me! After joining FORT in the heady days of summer 2020, things have progressed somewhat for the business, and that all means that my life has got busier! My main focus is on making sure that all our suppliers are paid promptly and without fuss.
My first love is accounts, and I've been lucky enough that it also fits in well with my other hobbies, of painting (by numbers), walking (with accountants), reading novels about accountant detectives and eating cheese. My favourite thing about working at FORT is that I can really feel the cosmopolitan culture that reminds me of the south of France, as well as having my baby boy Mathieu also working here so I can give him cuddles or clips around the ear as required!