Deceuninck's Roy Frost On Brexit: "Its Business As Usual"

Voters’ decision to leave the EU in the Brexit referendum caught commentators and the political establishment by surprise.

We were warned about short term volatility in shares and exchange rates and we got them. A week after, the FTSE 100 stock market had its best day for five years. The following day it fell back on news that the Bank of England may cut interest rates in August and restart quantitative easing.

Commentators who assumed the worst, marked down housebuilders shares. Steve Morgan chairman of Redrow whose shares dropped 30% as a result said: “sites remain busy, post Brexit, reservations continue to be taken. There is a long term underlying demand for new homes following decades of undersupply that leaves market fundamentals unchanged.” His remarks were picked up by some other housebuilders who echoed his comments in a return to reality.

The fundamentals of our market and our Deceuninck UK business are very strong. In or out of the EU, our prospects are excellent.

We’ve been in Britain nearly 40 years, manufacturing in Calne, Wiltshire. Our successful double-digit growth run began three years ago when I was appointed MD and Rob McGlennon joined as Sales Director. Our goal is getting to No 3 in the UK. Worldwide we are in the top three in all major markets. In the UK, a new marketing strategy put a British face on the Deceuninck brand and we designed #BestInClass products that excel in performance and good looks to make it easy for fabricators and installers to take sales from their competitors and grow.

We invested over £2m in the last two years in new products, new extrusion lines, new people – creating jobs for 30% more people in the last three years – and a vast warehouse at Calne to house our 26 colours-from-stock colour offer. Deceuninck is No 1 in colour because we make it easy for fabricators and installers to sell colour to UK homeowners, and to commercial markets where we supply any colour they want.

“Deceuninck is not a continental systems company,” explains Bernard Vanderper, Director North West Europe. “It’s a world class, global systems company operating in 75 countries, most of which are outside the EU. The UK, US and Turkey are among our three fastest growing companies. What wins in the UK, US or Turkish markets are each different from other markets, so it’s important that local management set their own strategy and are responsible for achieving it. Deceuninck Group’s role is to invest and hold them to account.”

Deceuninck is one of the fastest growing systems company in the UK market. Deceuninck is made in Britain, and every systems company that extrudes here buys raw materials in US dollars/Euro so we are all affected by the exchange rates.

The vote on a British Brexit changes nothing. It’s business as usual on our way to No 3.