by numbers?
painting & decorating
Are you painting
by numbers? A long, healthy summer and increased consumer confidence has seen the Painting & Decorating category gain some steady, if unremarkable, growth. Things might be on the up however and that brings its own challenges. Jess Brunette reports. Everyone in the hardware channel seems to say the same thing about the market, that it’s coming back but that things are either patchy, or steady at best. In many ways painting & decorating is in the same boat, but as a category with more flexibility than some there has been some decent growth recently particularly in the renovation and DIY market.
THE GOLDEN WEATHER Darren Newland from Dulux reports a very positive last 12 months with good growth coming out of Christchurch and Auckland. A good summer coupled with increased consumer confidence has also been getting people onto jobs they previously placed way down the priority list. “Just a look at the latest polls from the banks shows consumer confidence is really high and I read recently that people have paid down enough debt now and want to enjoy themselves and actually get some stuff done. So people have taken a bit of time to do those jobs they have put off which has had a flow on effect.” Paint Aids’ Richard Percy attributes sales growth across its entire range of painting accessories and fillers to the increased confidence of homeowners in Auckland, Wellington and the Bay of Plenty in the
36
nzhj | SEPTEMBER 2013
value of their housing stock. “Three to four years ago people were saying house prices would drop by 20-30% and clearly that hasn’t happened. If anything the reverse is true and house prices have risen 10% each year in Auckland so therefore people feel better about getting back onto doing deferred maintenance or investing in upgrading their properties by decorating.” Phil Wilkins at Master Painters NZ has also seen positive signs from his time as a trainer over at Dulux: “The market is definitely up for trade and retail. I was in retail shops on a daily basis last year and from talking to people, sales have certainly taken off since then.” While happy to report that the firm’s range of wood care products is still going strong, Wattyl NZ’s Gary Inwood is a little more sober in his response. “The market has remained relatively flat for us here in New Zealand with some of the obvious areas benefiting from increased activity while areas like the Central and Lower North Island have waned behind a little.” Over at Cotec, Robin Wright describes the market as “bumbling” with signs of growth in place that haven’t made real impacts on the bottom line yet. “It’s also very competitive at the moment in terms of pricing and it’s difficult for us as a smaller player as we have smaller infrastructure but we are doing OK and growing all the time.” STANDING ON SHAKY GROUND As those in the channel tend to look to the two major centres of construction potential to see larger trends emerging it is well worth having a closer look at the separate issues that Christchurch and Auckland are facing at present. As we have been hearing in other categories, Master Painters’ Wilkinson is particularly concerned with a lack of skilled labour, particularly in Christchurch. More at
www.hardwarejournal.co.nz
painting & decorating
No mould? Thanks PAL! Paint Aids has a raft of new products for sprucing up your property starting with their Stop’z Mould paint additive, a fungicidal paint additive to prevent mould in paints, stains and grout. Paint Aids is also offering a new coating remover paint stripper available in 250ml, 500ml, 1 and 3 litre sizes that is water-based, low odour and non-toxic for peace of mind when doing those tough jobs around the family castle. Paint Aids also has new colour coded packaging for the Legend range of paint brushes that makes them easier to identify by type on the shelf. www.paintaids.co.nz
“Finding trained and experienced staff is top of the list at the moment and that’s true across many areas of construction. With things being a bit flat over the last few years we haven’t trained the apprentices and kept the skills up like we should have done. We kept saying that things would pick up and we would be caught short, and sure enough, here we are, caught short,” Wilkinson says. “So people really need to start training their own staff, whether it’s up skilling the present staff or taking on apprentices and the best solution is probably a mix of both.” Wilkinson has seen the results of a lack of skilled labour and it has a number of negative effects for Christchurch and the whole country. “Firstly jobs may be done poorly, or not at all, and secondly you have to look overseas to bring in trained people to do the job and some of that is happening right now in Christchurch.” I asked Richard Percy if he felt that painting might be an easier nut to crack down in Christchurch than other more highly regulated areas of construction. “Our understating is that the small to medium jobs (repairs rather than rebuilds) are 50-60% through and that’s certainly causing a bit of growth in Christchurch. But the flip side of that – depending on which painters you talk to – is that they aren’t being remunerated well enough to do the work, which can lead smaller companies and contractors to use lower quality products in some situations in terms of painting accessories. “And there is a trend in Christchurch for some painters to use lower quality imported products which is driven by the pricing given out by whoever is controlling the contracts.” THE CITY OF SALES? As a big town with a serious shortage of affordable housing, Auckland has plenty of potential for business but at the moment it More at
www.hardwarejournal.co.nz
Haydn’s new cover-ups Haydn Brush Company is launching two new products this coming season. The Zinsser Peel Stop is a clear, flexible bridging sealer for indoor or outdoor surfaces. Peel Stop tightly bonds to old paint and problem areas forming a sound surface for new paint. Also new is the Rust-Oleum LeakSeal Spray. This rubberised coating seals cracks, fills small holes and provides protection against moisture and rust on surfaces that need it most. The spray is suitable on a wide range of surfaces and is available in an 11oz or 12oz size. www.haydn.co.nz
• The painters’ paint – trusted by professionals since 1979 • Made in New Zealand for New Zealand conditions • Extensive colour range suitable for domestic, commercial and industrial use • Now available throughout New Zealand
Call our technical experts 09 837 0897 Visit us online at www.cotec.co.nz
SEPTEMBER 2013 | nzhj
37
painting & decorating
Mind the gap! Are you ready? GIB has announced the release of its new ReadyLock prefinished wall lining system that takes painting out of the equation for a super fast, super easy refit of your new office or large commercial space. The ReadyLock system has been developed to make the installation of commercial wall linings faster with less mess while delivering a great finished look. This hard-wearing pre-painted GIB plasterboard is available in five Resene and four Dulux colours with powder-coated jointers in matching colours. Then there’s GIB Superline, a multi-function board that is also ideal for the commercial sector, providing wet area, fire, noise and bracing performance in a single lining for areas that require a higher level of durability, toughness and water resistance. Another addition to the GIB range is Levelline, a composite trim with a paper face that matches GIB plasterboard to create a uniform finish on corners. Levelline can be folded for an internal or external corner or an off-angle corner and is supplied in 30m rolls that can be cut-to-length on-site to reduce waste. Finally GIB’s popular Trade Finish multi compounds are now available in refill cartons that are approximately 20% cheaper than pails. www.gib.co.nz
The Velvet touch Resene Room Velvet and Ceiling Velvet are solvent-borne enamel paints that offer a far lower sheen than many previous enamel interior paints. Based on a tough solvent-borne resin, these paints offer durability in high wear and wet areas while low hydrocarbon content and low odour formulation reduce the strong smells associated with solvent-borne paints. Any spills can be handled with Resene’s No 2 lower odour thinner. www.resene.co.nz
38
nzhj | SEPTEMBER 2013
Often the prep is the toughest part of a paint job but Bostik Fill A Gap takes a lot of the stress out the equation. An economical, general purpose, one-part acrylic gap filler and sealant, Fill A Gap is paintable, sandable, flexible and easy to use with a smooth long lasting finish that makes it ideal for both interior and exterior use. This NZ-made product is low VOC and is tested and approved by Master Painters NZ. www.bostik.co.nz
seems to be a waiting game and there are still no guarantees that business will come your way. The Reserve Bank’s recent requirement for a 20% home deposit hasn’t been met with a terrific response from new home owners either with 77.7% unlikely to buy a home in the next five years according to a Fairfax Media poll and many looking to the Government to provide cheaper housing (especially in Auckland) as a solution. “There’s some debate about the Auckland Unitary Plan and what it means but that is still a good couple of years off in terms of seeing growth getting back to the level of permits there was 4 or 5 years ago,” says Auckland-based Richard Percy. I asked Percy if he thought the Unitary Plan was a project that those in the category should be keeping a close eye on? “Obviously it will change the mix. Some of the impact will depend on the painters as some apartments tend to be spray-painted rather than roller & brush which is our core focus but certainly the intensification’s got to help the whole category.” Housing New Zealand is also worth watching with its recently announced project promising to convert around 2,000 three- and four-bedroom state houses into four- and five-bedroom ones in the next two years. There have also been tentative announcements for a second plan to construct 500 two-bedroom houses on Housing NZ properties around Auckland. A quick look at the website of Housing NZ preferred housing provider Creating Communities does show a number of proposed builds in Auckland’s Glen Innes suburb. However, finishing dates aren’t expected until late 2014 so it’s definitely still early days. Robin Wright has been in Auckland for 20 years and is positive about the city’s future going forward and what that means for the category. “Auckland as a city is getting its act together. It was too fractured before but I think all the recent development and drivers are the right direction for Auckland. West Auckland has plenty of land and the train situation is better and for the paint market up here I see the future as being very rosy say in the next 5 to 10 years.” So while we may not quite be there yet, it seems like there could be plenty of projects coming through. The question is, are you ready for them? More at
www.hardwarejournal.co.nz
RODUCTS P D N A S W E N T FOR THE LATES
SIGN UP TO RECEIVE FREE EMAIL NEWS
Go to hardwarejournal.co.nz and sign up now to receive the latest hardware industry news and insider information direct to your inbox
MPM 8101 0813
For advertising enquiries contact Martin Griffiths Phone 09 304 2708 or email [email protected]
Are you painting
by numbers? A long, healthy summer and increased consumer confidence has seen the Painting & Decorating category gain some steady, if unremarkable, growth. Things might be on the up however and that brings its own challenges. Jess Brunette reports. Everyone in the hardware channel seems to say the same thing about the market, that it’s coming back but that things are either patchy, or steady at best. In many ways painting & decorating is in the same boat, but as a category with more flexibility than some there has been some decent growth recently particularly in the renovation and DIY market.
THE GOLDEN WEATHER Darren Newland from Dulux reports a very positive last 12 months with good growth coming out of Christchurch and Auckland. A good summer coupled with increased consumer confidence has also been getting people onto jobs they previously placed way down the priority list. “Just a look at the latest polls from the banks shows consumer confidence is really high and I read recently that people have paid down enough debt now and want to enjoy themselves and actually get some stuff done. So people have taken a bit of time to do those jobs they have put off which has had a flow on effect.” Paint Aids’ Richard Percy attributes sales growth across its entire range of painting accessories and fillers to the increased confidence of homeowners in Auckland, Wellington and the Bay of Plenty in the
36
nzhj | SEPTEMBER 2013
value of their housing stock. “Three to four years ago people were saying house prices would drop by 20-30% and clearly that hasn’t happened. If anything the reverse is true and house prices have risen 10% each year in Auckland so therefore people feel better about getting back onto doing deferred maintenance or investing in upgrading their properties by decorating.” Phil Wilkins at Master Painters NZ has also seen positive signs from his time as a trainer over at Dulux: “The market is definitely up for trade and retail. I was in retail shops on a daily basis last year and from talking to people, sales have certainly taken off since then.” While happy to report that the firm’s range of wood care products is still going strong, Wattyl NZ’s Gary Inwood is a little more sober in his response. “The market has remained relatively flat for us here in New Zealand with some of the obvious areas benefiting from increased activity while areas like the Central and Lower North Island have waned behind a little.” Over at Cotec, Robin Wright describes the market as “bumbling” with signs of growth in place that haven’t made real impacts on the bottom line yet. “It’s also very competitive at the moment in terms of pricing and it’s difficult for us as a smaller player as we have smaller infrastructure but we are doing OK and growing all the time.” STANDING ON SHAKY GROUND As those in the channel tend to look to the two major centres of construction potential to see larger trends emerging it is well worth having a closer look at the separate issues that Christchurch and Auckland are facing at present. As we have been hearing in other categories, Master Painters’ Wilkinson is particularly concerned with a lack of skilled labour, particularly in Christchurch. More at
www.hardwarejournal.co.nz
painting & decorating
No mould? Thanks PAL! Paint Aids has a raft of new products for sprucing up your property starting with their Stop’z Mould paint additive, a fungicidal paint additive to prevent mould in paints, stains and grout. Paint Aids is also offering a new coating remover paint stripper available in 250ml, 500ml, 1 and 3 litre sizes that is water-based, low odour and non-toxic for peace of mind when doing those tough jobs around the family castle. Paint Aids also has new colour coded packaging for the Legend range of paint brushes that makes them easier to identify by type on the shelf. www.paintaids.co.nz
“Finding trained and experienced staff is top of the list at the moment and that’s true across many areas of construction. With things being a bit flat over the last few years we haven’t trained the apprentices and kept the skills up like we should have done. We kept saying that things would pick up and we would be caught short, and sure enough, here we are, caught short,” Wilkinson says. “So people really need to start training their own staff, whether it’s up skilling the present staff or taking on apprentices and the best solution is probably a mix of both.” Wilkinson has seen the results of a lack of skilled labour and it has a number of negative effects for Christchurch and the whole country. “Firstly jobs may be done poorly, or not at all, and secondly you have to look overseas to bring in trained people to do the job and some of that is happening right now in Christchurch.” I asked Richard Percy if he felt that painting might be an easier nut to crack down in Christchurch than other more highly regulated areas of construction. “Our understating is that the small to medium jobs (repairs rather than rebuilds) are 50-60% through and that’s certainly causing a bit of growth in Christchurch. But the flip side of that – depending on which painters you talk to – is that they aren’t being remunerated well enough to do the work, which can lead smaller companies and contractors to use lower quality products in some situations in terms of painting accessories. “And there is a trend in Christchurch for some painters to use lower quality imported products which is driven by the pricing given out by whoever is controlling the contracts.” THE CITY OF SALES? As a big town with a serious shortage of affordable housing, Auckland has plenty of potential for business but at the moment it More at
www.hardwarejournal.co.nz
Haydn’s new cover-ups Haydn Brush Company is launching two new products this coming season. The Zinsser Peel Stop is a clear, flexible bridging sealer for indoor or outdoor surfaces. Peel Stop tightly bonds to old paint and problem areas forming a sound surface for new paint. Also new is the Rust-Oleum LeakSeal Spray. This rubberised coating seals cracks, fills small holes and provides protection against moisture and rust on surfaces that need it most. The spray is suitable on a wide range of surfaces and is available in an 11oz or 12oz size. www.haydn.co.nz
• The painters’ paint – trusted by professionals since 1979 • Made in New Zealand for New Zealand conditions • Extensive colour range suitable for domestic, commercial and industrial use • Now available throughout New Zealand
Call our technical experts 09 837 0897 Visit us online at www.cotec.co.nz
SEPTEMBER 2013 | nzhj
37
painting & decorating
Mind the gap! Are you ready? GIB has announced the release of its new ReadyLock prefinished wall lining system that takes painting out of the equation for a super fast, super easy refit of your new office or large commercial space. The ReadyLock system has been developed to make the installation of commercial wall linings faster with less mess while delivering a great finished look. This hard-wearing pre-painted GIB plasterboard is available in five Resene and four Dulux colours with powder-coated jointers in matching colours. Then there’s GIB Superline, a multi-function board that is also ideal for the commercial sector, providing wet area, fire, noise and bracing performance in a single lining for areas that require a higher level of durability, toughness and water resistance. Another addition to the GIB range is Levelline, a composite trim with a paper face that matches GIB plasterboard to create a uniform finish on corners. Levelline can be folded for an internal or external corner or an off-angle corner and is supplied in 30m rolls that can be cut-to-length on-site to reduce waste. Finally GIB’s popular Trade Finish multi compounds are now available in refill cartons that are approximately 20% cheaper than pails. www.gib.co.nz
The Velvet touch Resene Room Velvet and Ceiling Velvet are solvent-borne enamel paints that offer a far lower sheen than many previous enamel interior paints. Based on a tough solvent-borne resin, these paints offer durability in high wear and wet areas while low hydrocarbon content and low odour formulation reduce the strong smells associated with solvent-borne paints. Any spills can be handled with Resene’s No 2 lower odour thinner. www.resene.co.nz
38
nzhj | SEPTEMBER 2013
Often the prep is the toughest part of a paint job but Bostik Fill A Gap takes a lot of the stress out the equation. An economical, general purpose, one-part acrylic gap filler and sealant, Fill A Gap is paintable, sandable, flexible and easy to use with a smooth long lasting finish that makes it ideal for both interior and exterior use. This NZ-made product is low VOC and is tested and approved by Master Painters NZ. www.bostik.co.nz
seems to be a waiting game and there are still no guarantees that business will come your way. The Reserve Bank’s recent requirement for a 20% home deposit hasn’t been met with a terrific response from new home owners either with 77.7% unlikely to buy a home in the next five years according to a Fairfax Media poll and many looking to the Government to provide cheaper housing (especially in Auckland) as a solution. “There’s some debate about the Auckland Unitary Plan and what it means but that is still a good couple of years off in terms of seeing growth getting back to the level of permits there was 4 or 5 years ago,” says Auckland-based Richard Percy. I asked Percy if he thought the Unitary Plan was a project that those in the category should be keeping a close eye on? “Obviously it will change the mix. Some of the impact will depend on the painters as some apartments tend to be spray-painted rather than roller & brush which is our core focus but certainly the intensification’s got to help the whole category.” Housing New Zealand is also worth watching with its recently announced project promising to convert around 2,000 three- and four-bedroom state houses into four- and five-bedroom ones in the next two years. There have also been tentative announcements for a second plan to construct 500 two-bedroom houses on Housing NZ properties around Auckland. A quick look at the website of Housing NZ preferred housing provider Creating Communities does show a number of proposed builds in Auckland’s Glen Innes suburb. However, finishing dates aren’t expected until late 2014 so it’s definitely still early days. Robin Wright has been in Auckland for 20 years and is positive about the city’s future going forward and what that means for the category. “Auckland as a city is getting its act together. It was too fractured before but I think all the recent development and drivers are the right direction for Auckland. West Auckland has plenty of land and the train situation is better and for the paint market up here I see the future as being very rosy say in the next 5 to 10 years.” So while we may not quite be there yet, it seems like there could be plenty of projects coming through. The question is, are you ready for them? More at
www.hardwarejournal.co.nz
RODUCTS P D N A S W E N T FOR THE LATES
SIGN UP TO RECEIVE FREE EMAIL NEWS
Go to hardwarejournal.co.nz and sign up now to receive the latest hardware industry news and insider information direct to your inbox
MPM 8101 0813
For advertising enquiries contact Martin Griffiths Phone 09 304 2708 or email [email protected]
