May 2008

This month we have had to take stock of our position in terms of the amount of orders we are now handling and the prices we are charging.

Last year we made significant increases in our turnover, and with careful control over our costs and stock levels we even made an increased profit.

This current year we are concerned about the credit availability in the housing market and we are wondering how that will affect us, and you.

We are hoping that there will not be a big correction in the total volume of orders, although we may see a move to more home improvements instead of more new building of houses.

Whatever will happen, we are going to have to increase our floor space in the factory even if the order volume does not increase over the 2007 levels.

Transport is going to be a consideration. Fuel prices have increased as you already know, and it is expected that they will continue to increase. The problem is, by how much? We may have to increase our delivery charges soon. The driver regulations are getting tighter and tighter, the small vans will be having driving time limits imposed on them, and weight limits are going to be monitored more closely. We have been looking at buying a 12 tonne van to be used as a feeder supply to the small vans when delivering in the London - South East areas, with a view to controlling the total drivers' hours, and making our overall haulage more efficient to keep prices down.

The Pound Sterling has suffered on the international exchanges. We had to introduce the exchange rate variation factor in out purchases from Canada last year, but we are now facing a similar problem as the Euro strengthens against the Pound and we are buying more of our materials from European suppliers. We will hold prices as long as possible.

Going back to our workshop space question, we feel that the volume of work and the space needed to supply kitchen doors is not viable and is detrimental to our wardrobe door business so be advised that we will be phasing this side of the product line out in the future. Do not take any significant orders without checking the stock position first.

If anyone is interested in taking over the kitchen door manufacturing we would be happy to talk about it.

April 2008

Those of you who know 'J.T.' in the factory will we are sure wonder why it is that he is expecting to take another period of 'Paternity Leave' in the next few weeks. The management refuse to comment.

Down to business

Thank you all for your recent orders. The newspaper/media tales of sales depressions in the housing market do not seem to be having any effect on your sales levels. Maybe there is some truth in the saying that if it is not convenient to move, then it is time to improve.

It is a fact that we are having to work harder to keep up with your orders. This is not a complaint.

As a result of the need to devote more factory space to wardrobe door production we are having to make use of some of the space reserved for kitchen door production and we will be pulling out any advertising of kitchen doors with a view to dropping that range of products entirely. If any of you are interested in taking on the production of this small but profitable range of products we would be happy to talk terms. We could offer to sell the equipment necessary if you do not already have some, but it would not be a requirement.

The other day our 7.5 ton van blew its turbo, this causes the engine oil to be drained out and ruins all the engine. You may be seeing a new big van, but it will not be for about 2 months, they also seem to be having difficulty in keeping up with the demand. One advantage of the new vehicles is that they are more fuel efficient and less polluting which means that we will be clear to deliver into London inside the "Carbon Free" zone without paying the new higher penalty. It is good that we can do our bit in the carbon reduction drive.

You may notice that the exchange rate for the Canadian Dollar has improved a little we hope that it continues but we are having to watch the exchange rate for the Euro which is getting worse steadily. We will stand the losses as long as possible, but do not be surprised if we have to come with bad news some time soon. Maybe if you are thinking of improving your margins you could use that as the reason now just in case we need to move, and continue to hope that we can ride it out.

February / March 2008

We hope that you all had a good Christmas break and that 2008 has started well.

Here at Global we have had a buoyant start, due in part to the static caravan company we supply increasing their order volumes, they have been involved in supplying homes for the people hit by last year's floods. We also picked up an order for 320 doors for a dock development, all in aluminium frames.

Costs have been continuing to rise, our metalwork currently has a floating surcharge linked to the exchange rate. The glass company has just warned us of an increase due to the exchange rate of the Pound to the Euro which is also going against us just now. We will give as much notice as possible and hold our prices as long as we can, but it seems inevitable that they must increase soon.

On a lighter note our soccer team (five a side) finished mid table, and are entered in a one-off knock out Cup in Garforth in early May.

10 of us are entered in the Jane Tomlins running/walking "Run 4 all" challenge in June. We all want to support this brave Lady's charity, and already side bets are being laid on the quickest finisher among the lads. If I finish on the same day I will be happy. We are of course open to any sponsorship offers.

In December Lee who cuts all the door panels you keep selling, with his partner Stacey welcomed little Alfie into the world, Mother and Son are both doing well. In retaliation J.T. announced that his partner Nicola was again pregnant, that should slow him down a bit!

With apologies for the delay since the last news, I will try to keep up to date with the news in future.

Brian R. Woodhouse.

August/September 2007 News

Doesn't time fly - here we are in September already. We have a number of items to talk about, so lets get started.

Personnel changes, Trevor our workshop foreman and Jodie our admin assistant have both moved on to other employers - we wish them well for the future.

We have a new admin lady - she is called Jade and she is fitting in well. In order to help Jonathan we have recruited another driver, he is called Terry and has a wealth of experience and stories to tell.

Our board supplier has told us that Hungarian Ash, also known as Balaton Ash (Kronospan D078) is no longer available so please don't sell any.

As you will know 'Rosa' mirror is no more, and at present Bronze mirror is difficult to get hold of - we have plenty at present but it may be prudent to confirm that we still have stock before ordering.

The Komandor Aluminium is selling well, it is more expensive than steel but it has a number of advantages mainly that it can be used as a room divider, price lists are available on request.

Ramtrack Silver Grey steel is proving very popular, and Ramtrack are in the process of producing an Aluminium of their own - we hope to have samples early next year.

Finally the Global Doors football team has done well and as the 6 a side season comes to an end they are lying 2nd in their league - well done lads!

June News

This month's news includes the fact that Brian and family are at the time of writing on holiday in the Isle of Man.
For those who do not know it, Brian has been a regular visitor to the Island to see the TT Races for many years.
This week is the 100th anniversary of the TT and as such is an extremely busy time.
All accommodation and transport to the island has been booked up for months. Brian booked his accommodation and ferry tickets over a year ago.
Even then the ferry time was changed 3 days before the arranged time and put back 12 hours from a daytime travel to a night-time one which is not very good when travelling with children.
We understand that the holiday is going well and they are having good weather.

It is hoped that Brian returns refreshed, one of the things awaiting his decision is the fact that the strengthening of the Canadian Dollar is making our imports from there much more expensive.
There will have to be a similar increase in our selling price for bulk supplies, and the cost of frames when selling finished doors.
This is likely to be in the order of 10% for all stock imported from now.
A direct letter to our customers will be sent out as soon as possible.

On a lighter note, the lads in the workshop have formed a 6 a-side football team, and in their first match they won by 6 goals to 1.
Congratulation lads.

From Ron Woodhouse.

April News

We are currently working with our accountants to finalist the accounts for 2006.

Since we have clearly passed the £1million turnover barrier we know that all our customers have had a record year. The next task is to increase the volume of our records which are contained on the computer, cutting down on our reliance on hand written ledger records. Being a little 'old fashioned' we have since we started wanted to keep hard copies of the records to compare against the computer returns.

Recent returns have shown us that when there has been a conflict between the two records it has been the computer return which has been correct. This was not what we expected!

Kim is the one who produces your invoices, her sales ledger is almost a work of art, the entries are copperplate handwriting, and she is reluctant to give it up but the time taken in writing it is more than can now be justified. We will keep the books, at some future time maybe a historian will admire them when the computer data is no longer readable due to changes in the technology.

Finally we must mention that we have just been given yet another notice of rising prices. The best white glass finish is being raised by 12 1/2% due to a shortage of the special clear glass necessary to get the brilliant white finish. We are looking for an alternative supplier and will not be implementing this increase just yet.

Many thanks
Brian R Woodhouse.

December 2006 News

To all our site readers.
Brian is again very busy and has not, he says, had time to prepare a news letter, so this is Ron writing on his behalf.

All at Global wish a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year to our customers, existing and potential.

We must again apologise for the price increases which we have had to pass on in recent months. It is a fact that they are all directly caused by increases from our suppliers, and since we were given no notice of the increases we had to stand the losses over the time it takes us to update our accounts system and send out notification to you all. Hopefully the market will stabilise itself for the next few months.

We are investigating new products all the time, but there is nothing which is going to be introduced imminently. There are however some interesting developments in the pipeline. Watch this space.

The proposals we are hearing from the government and its advisors about introducing mileage charges to reduce congestion is worrying. If it is implemented as is being suggested it will certainly make delivery charges much more expensive. On that theme, I would like to quote a report which Brian found on a van seat.

Written by Jonathan, who is as you will know our main driver, it seems he wrote it for himself as a frustration relief. He did not complain to anyone about it.

"Diary Entry 23/11/06.
8AM to Custom World. [This means he probably set of at 4AM]
Three other trucks waiting for loading/unloading. Decided to deliver Bluebird and Mr Dunstone first.
Got to within 1/2 mile of Mr Stacey, police had cordoned off the street, took a 5 mile detour to come in the other side.
Stuck in roadworks at Lyndhurst in the New Forest. Lost 20 minutes.
Delivered to Benford, after being stuck behind removal van on 1-way system 100 yards from the customer.
Waited at freight forwarder for over 1 hour with the doors for Jersey before unloading.
Possibly got caught by speed trap 5 min before coming to a halt in traffic on the A27 due to road closure.
Diverted through Chichester, 30 miles, it took 1 1/2 hours.
Delivered Offspec at 4PM.
At petrol station in Billingshurst, stuck behind a lady whose car broke down. Had to push her off the pumps.
Accident on M25 Nr Dartford Tunnel. Stuck there for 1 1/2 hours.
9PM stuck in roadworks at Newark, 1 mile tailback.
Also: my apple was bruised, and I have a blister on my heel.
Home at 10PM. "

We appreciate Jonathan, and I am sure that you do too.

See you next year, Ron Woodhouse.