The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Lockdown delays now ‘intolerable’
T he boss of a Perth glazing firm claims he will lose £1 million of orders due to Scottish Government rules on tradesmen entering people’s homes.
At present work is only able to take place inside homes in Scotland if it is essential maintenance.
Balhousie Windows director Drew Hay has expressed his frustration that similar firms in England and Wales are able to continue work.
Mr Hay said the position means he has a backlog of three months of work as well as annoyed customers.
He has also put most of his 25 staff on flexible furlough.
“We had work booked in for January, February, March and understandably these clients are asking why we’re not doing the job,” he said.
“They’re telling me about kitchens being fitted down the road, a neighbour’s got new carpets, windows are being fitted at this house…
“Another client actually accused me of abusing the furlough scheme – it’s becoming intolerable.”
Mr Hay is urging Holyrood to lift the regulations and allow them to trade under Covid-secure guidelines.
The current roadmap out of lockdown has pencilled in non-essential work in other people’s homes to be allowed from April 26, depending on Covid rates.
The Balhousie boss said the consequences of this year’s restrictions could be up to £1m.
“We find ourselves in a really frustrating position in that our online leads are 94% up on this time last year, but we can’t progress any of them,” Mr Hay said.
“Because we can’t get to fit the jobs, there’s going to come a point where customers go elsewhere.
“The potential is that we’ll lose £1m between now and the end of the year.”
Mr Hay said such was the demand that any new orders will not be able to be started until August.
He also said the business had a variety of partlyfinished jobs on conservatories and sunrooms.
He continued: “We’re not able to tie in with the electrics or heating because you can’t go into homes.
“It means jobs aren’t being finished and we’ve got money lying out all over the place. It’s not good.
“The restrictions need to be lifted immediately to allow Scottish home improvement businesses to fit existing jobs, collect outstanding monies and to capitalise on new sales to support our recovery.
“We can’t see a justified explanation as to why the Scottish rules are different.”
Balhousie, which was established in 1993, is part of the Conservatory Outlet’s 26-strong retail network of installation companies.
The company works with hundreds of customers across central Scotland designing and installing doors, windows, conservatories, sunrooms and extensions.
The director added: “This is a hugely important decision for the recovery of our industry and many others.
“We have recently applied for a discretionary grant to help us through this difficult period in our company’s history.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said its roadmap out of lockdown was outlined by the first minister in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday.
He added: “The first minister made clear that we must move very carefully to ensure continued suppression of the virus.”