Our Vision

Profitable growth with a Quality market leading product, a great customer base, exceptional people and continued investment.

Our Mission

To attract and retain valuable customers.

After the Economic Storm, is Confidence Returning?

I would like to thank all those who recently participated in our online poll. Forward planning is always challenging, however, with this information we can respond and implement action plans feeling more prepared. To see the full results and graphs, go to Construction Industry Trends - Results page.

It is great to see almost one fifth of respondents are already seeing signs of rising confidence levels. Confidence shall be a major factor for the bounce back into recovery. Some industry leaders may believe this as a false bounce back; however I believe we are at the bottom of the cycle. This quarter may be flat but we are back in control and more equipped to maintain a healthy balance sheet and survive this downturn.

Do you Currently have to Heavily Reduce Margins to Compete? An astonishing 91% of businesses are heavily reducing margins to compete. From these results, it will be at no surprise that almost 80% feel that price is their customer's highest priority when placing orders or awarding contracts and for 63% of firms, it is their own priority when ordering.

Currently we are competing by price, as the results would suggest, however, we have not forgotten what made the steel construction industry the preferred choice for construction - lead time, quality and reliability. In the aftermath of this recession, there will certainly be people realising what reliability is worth. A low price is not worthwhile if it is eaten up with inefficiency. While Albion are accommodating to current customer requirements, our foundations are set for future growth.

However, 73% believe it shall take 18 months - 2 years before market conditions return to how they were in 2007. The survey results also revealed that currently 50% of business' order books over the next 6 - 12 months are either 'low' or 'of major concern' while 48% are 'average' or 'good'. 70% report their enquiry levels to be either 'very good' or 'average'. On the outset this high percentage is encouraging; however, a low proportion of these enquiries are being converted into live projects.

At Albion Sections, we are defending our core competencies and operating as effectively and profitably as possible

After hitting a peak in mid-2008, the price of steel fell dramatically. This was certainly welcomed to all those in the construction industry. Our survey results reveal that 90% believe steel prices shall remain at a low price if not fall further. It seems the price of steel has stabilised. While some steel providers are working hard to convince the industry that price will increase in the third quarter of 2009, could this just a ploy to stop any more price decreases.

The construction industry is facing challenging times, but many companies are still building across submarkets and adding value to products. At Albion Sections, we are defending our core competencies and operating as effectively and profitably as possible. It's easy to become inwardly focused, I firmly believe that it is crucial to understand and communicate with our customers.

Once the fear of further job losses disappears from the minds of our country's work force, confidence will start to return and money flow around the system again. It's going to require lots of tough work, determination and confident leadership to steer the ship through the storm, it shall only be a matter of time before things turn around.

John Jones Managing Director of Albion Sections