By Matthew Glover, MD of Conservatory Outlet:

I'm a big believer that the UK fenestration and glazing industry needs to rapidly improve it's product range and service to the consumer. There's challenging times ahead and those companies willing to try new things will succeed as a result.

Despite this, I still feel we're still light years ahead of the rest of the world!

A few things have happened at work this week that have made me think this way:

Firstly, I had a potential trade customer with a small window company in Tenerife get in touch with Conservatory Outlet. My first thought was to fix up an appointment quickly, and get on the next plane out of here! The company supplies UK products to ex-pats who cannot purchase the type of quality windows, doors and conservatories they were used to in the UK. I was told that there are 'major opportunities in Tenerife!'

Then we had an Anglo-German couple in our West Yorkshire Windows conservatory showroom last weekend. They were so keen for our sales rep to come and quote them for a P-Shape conservatory in Hamburg, that they were willing to pay for our guy to go over and quote - flights and all. Apparently, you just can't get decent conservatories in Germany!

Finally, I stumbled upon a forum for expat Brits living in Australia, discussing double glazing down under. There were a number of people on the forum complaining about the standard of Australian windows, and comparing them unfavourably with the ones they had left behind! I once lived in Perth, Western Australia, and to be honest, I can't remember much about Australian windows, other than they were as flimsy as the secondary glazing we get here.

And then in the US, the vogue is for English conservatories, and from what I hear there's real opportunities for UK suppliers to sell product over there. Apparently, the product range in the US is simply not as good as those offered in the UK.

So maybe we shouldn't beat ourselves up too much. What we need to do is make sure the British public understand how lucky they are to purchase Great British windows, doors and conservatories!!