Again, this post is stemming from the recent market report done by Insight Data. In the report, it showed who the top 3 companies were in the industry in terms of turnover:
1. Anglian Home Improvements: Turnover UP to £208m, with profits steady for four years.
2. Everest: Turnover DOWN to £145m, with £19m loss.
3. Safestyle: Turover UP to £110m with 8.64% pre-tax profit.
The one in bold is the one of interest here. They probably make the most stylish TV ads of our industry, and are one of the biggest, if not THE double glazing household name around the UK. But all is clearly not well if you look at that £19m loss.
To put that amount of money into perspective, that loss is equal to the amount of money Pilkington will save by their recent closure of the float line in St Helens. That is a lot of money to lose in one year, bearing in mind Everest is nowhere near the size of Pilks.
So, what are the reasons for this massive loss? Has there been some major restructuring that they have kept quiet? Have they been repaying debts they might owe? Or is it simply that the other have been catching up and speeding past them in the market place and they are just losing ground to everyone else? Personally, I don’t know. I think that in all eventualities it is going to come down to people simply buying less from them. Which then begs a further question: if people are buying less from them, why?
Everest are know for being one of the most expensive companies around. In a climate where people are wanting to get the most for their money, perhaps their offerings are becoming less appealing. Whatever the reason, this major loss needs to be addressed. Losing £19m on turnover of £145m isn’t good news, and will be compounded if losses are recorded in future years also.
If there are any Everest members of staff out there reading this, I would welcome your comments on this post, maybe to perhaps shed some light as to why so much money has been lost.
All other comments are welcome in the section below too!
Quoted against them for a job, they first stab was £104k, we quoted £28K straight in. After 6 phone calls, the last the salesman said that they had to take his offer as he had to get the chief exec out of a board meeting to do the special price, they came down to £42k. We got the job!! Enough said , they are living in the past.
It hardly surprises you that when they are quoting ridiculous prices no wonder they are in trouble,yes they have lots if staff,premises,and all the other costs ,but if they put costs realistic they would probably win more jobs
Its simple reading if you download the accounts from companies house
I think it is really nasty to quote £ 30,000 for a £ 6,000 job and pressurize weak householders into feeling foolish if they do not order. Picking off the weak and elderly like vultures or rapacious wild beasts. We have a policy: anyone over 80 who signs with us are requested to give us the details of a close relative. We forward the contract details to the reative for perusal and only if they approve do we process the order. Everest seem to advertise respect and quality while laughing at the gullible as they fleece them with high prices… Read more »
Could not agree more about your comments ,as this is exactly what they did to my elderly father and showed no respect to us or trading standards when we raised these issues with them ,there products aren’t even that good and the GGF are a waste of space and are to comfortable in there relationship with the companies like Everest.
This couple were not vulnerable, he runs his own business and she is a medical consultant. The salesman was really trying it on and encouraged by the company. Ridiculous! I applaud your procedure with elderly clients, well done.
It was good to read Paul Pixley’s comments – you are a credit to this industry. You are also absolutely correct regarding the appalling practices of the largest companies. At the Federation, we are constantly reminded by consumers who have fallen to the exploitative, so called sales tactics they practice day in day out.
Thank you for your kind words, Anthony. I am not against commission only representatives as others have mentioned on this blog.. There are many decent reps out there working for local companies who are not trained solely for ” The Kill” like the nationals. However, some of the good honest ones get more into pressure selling due to bad experiences with customers who promise to get back to them and don’t. Having lost their faith in the public, these reps take up the old mantra ” All buyers are liars! The Watchdog type programmes ought to be fair and instruct… Read more »
I worked for Everest and the problem is that they have no sales force left. They increased the prices so much that the only way to get a deal was to give away all of your commission. So Everest got their sale and the client got a decent price but the salesman got nothing and I just couldn’t make a living. Almost all of the senior management have left and reps with 25+ years of experience have all gone to other companies. Patrick Chambers the old Coldseal boss was appointed Sales Director and it all went downhill very quickly. Shame… Read more »
Couldn’t happen to nicer people! We have had a 3/4 year nightmare with Everest and have been forced to put a sign up on our house, create a website detailing the problems etc. etc. Long story short, 2 separate glass roof panels collapsed in on us, narrowly missing me, a result of them installing a curved roof rail/girder which was putting pressure on the glass panels. Then there were the leaks, one of which was caused by their “fitters” drilling a large hole in the frame which they didn’t subsequently use and never filled in. Hardly a peep out of… Read more »
I am also having a nightmare with Everest. Two years after initial installation they still can’t get my very expensive patio doors to an acceptable standard. They have an arrogant attitude, which I’ve had to endure and seem to think is ok for the glass to be scratched and full of foreign bodies . I am waiting for them again today, to come and make another attempt but I have lost all confidence in the company. I was told they would be here by 8am but have now been told in will be almost 10am. To say they are useless… Read more »
We have had a similar experience regarding patio doors – installed 18 moths ago- badly scratched glass & lock keeps falling into frame, leaving big hole for wind & rain to blow through. We have not been able to open the door for 18 months because it takes 20 mins to lock. A year ago fitters left patio doors unable to lock (unsecured) & Warrington branch refused to send them back out to fix it. We have had leaking windows with badly scratched glass, with which they tried to solve by drilling lots of holes in frame, leading water to… Read more »
Nice to know I am not the only one although sorry that you , like me are having to endure their rubbish treatment of customers who have paid a premium for Everest products. I have a network of scratches on the glass of one of my patio doors, looks like something has been scraped across it . An engineer came out yesterday and said scratches fall within GGF guidelines , but why should new glass be scratched anyway? And why should I be told I just have to put up with it? The guidelines from GGF are a very convenient… Read more »