Bradford-based window and door company Safestyle UK on Thursday published a trading update for the six months ended July 4, 2021, saying its expects to report first-half revenues of £72.9 million, an increase of 13.1% over 2019 and 73.1% over 2020.

“As expected, the key national milestones reopening the economy have slowed consumer demand in our sector and this is reflected in our recent order intake following a very strong first quarter,” said Safestyle UK.

“As a result, the group has utilised some of the record order book that had been built since May 2020.  

“Notwithstanding this, the order book at the end of June 2021 remains very healthy at c.10% ahead of June 2020 levels.

“The business continued to invest in recovering customer service performance during H1 following the significant operational issues that have impacted the business from the COVID lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.”

In its outlook, the company said: “Looking ahead, the group remains exposed to two short term uncertainties.  

“Firstly, the market remains volatile, although demand now appears to be returning to more normal levels as consumer spending opportunities broaden.  

“The extent to which this will be mitigated by the current record levels of household savings and the impact of the recent surge in home transactions is uncertain.

“Secondly, we are currently experiencing an elevated level of operational disruption due to employees being required to self-isolate as a result of the country’s increasing levels of COVID infection rates and related self-isolations of close contacts.  

“This is already having an impact on the business and looks likely to adversely impact our customers’ availability, our factory and our supply chains if not rapidly addressed by the Government.  

“The senior management team are managing the situation closely with the aim of sustaining stable operations utilising our COVID-safe practices that have been embedded in the business since early 2020.

“Despite these current uncertainties, in light of the positive revenue, margins and current order book, the board expects 2021’s full year financial performance to be ahead of current market expectations.”