They call it the feel good factor. A run of mild weather coinciding with not one but three Bank Holiday weekends led to home pool owners sprinting to remove their winter debris covers this spring.
Figures released by the Met Office UK revealed that April was the sunniest on record since 1929. It was also a notably dry month, with only a third to a half of normal rainfall.
The early onset of summer has put a spring in the step of many water treatment suppliers who are enjoying a busy start to the season. Service and maintenance businesses in the residential pool sector are hard pressed to cope with demand as pool owners rush to get their pools up and running. Pool companies say they are delighted with numbers of new build enquiries, as the optimism of a sizzling summer has boosted interest and sales across the country.
“There is a real buzz in the residential pool sector at the moment, the likes of which we have not seen for nearly ten years,” comments Steve Smith, who heads the sales team at Plastica, the UK’s leading independent swimming pool equipment supplier.
“For so many years, the residential pool sector has been surviving on refurbishment and service scraps,” he adds.
“What is most exciting is that many of the orders we are receiving are associated at last with new residential builds.”
“We’re run off our feet,” says David Bland of Portrait Pools & Enclosures. “We have received a high level of interest in new pools in particular, but demand for refurbishments is also strong at the moment. The diary is already nearing its capacity so we’re feeling very positive as we head into the second half of the year.”
Ian Storr of Falcon Pools adds: “It has certainly been a busy spell for us in terms of new build domestic pools and it shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. “While servicing and maintenance remains steady, it is the new build project area in which we have seen the most growth.”
The sting in the tail, however, could be the weather prediction for the rest of the summer season, which isn’t looking too promising at present. Although notoriously difficult to predict, forecasters say that Britain may be in for a wet and cool summer thanks to the forecast of a substantial El Nino weather phenomenon.
