 CSI Interiors
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CSI News October 2005Mezzanines
Whilst the "Next" contract continues, the individual floors are not coming through at quite the rate we initially expected, so we continue to have capacity in both the works and the office - lead times remain around the 2-3 week mark (from drawing approval) although certain instances exist where this 'goes out' by a week or so.We continue to update our photo library so if you need any images to help you win the job, just tell us and we will endeavour to provide relevant copies. Steelwork prices have settled down following China's agreement to scale down it's expansion - our prices reflect the reduced cost of this material, although currently, price levels do not reflect the pre-China situation.
We are currently investigating ways and means of further reducing our base costs in order to protect and further enhance our competitiveness! LiningsCSI are seeking to increase its partition and fire rating business - don't forget that until 2001 this was our core business and although we now appear to concentrate to a greater degree on mezzanines, we still procure and fit our own linings!
We recently completed a £500K (!) fire protection job at Wakefield for one of our trade clients - the job looks well and the end user is very impressed after our 7 months(+) on site! Pat (Hanley) and Mat (Barnett) are now working extremely well together and they will provide you with a first class service! Again, we have new photos so just ask if you want copies. We have re-visited the Stelvatite fascia product and reassessed its relative merits over plasterboard. Our feeling is that for bulkhead drops of 400mm or less, it looks fine (and offers price advantages over stud and board systems). Unfortunately, given the flexibility of the product, once 400mm drop has been exceeded, we feel that the aesthetic reduces!
Given their knowledge and experience, Pat and Mat are a valuable resource in the partitioning field once the order is placed with CSI, they both effectively become F.O.C.Contracts Manager to our trade clients, since we insist that we oversee our jobs on your behalf as much as possible. Prospects
Things seem decidedly quieter over the last few weeks - whispers concerning a retail slump are now becoming louder and more concerted, whilst calls for a further base rate cut are being challenged by higher inflation figures! On balance, talk of recession is perhaps premature but a slow-down now looks inevitable - take heart though! We have enjoyed considerable success over the last few years and whilst certain areas of the economy feel the pinch, they are (arguably) the sectors which respond best to monetary influence a reduction in rates could buoy the markets! In the meantime, more robust industries exist - new building continues to increase along with financial, warehousing and food retailing sectors!
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Following discussions with our suppliers, CSI are now able to offer larger scale floors to its trade clients - £250K plus!
Notable successes during the quarter include further Next stores along with the re-introduction of B & Q as a client - via (of course) one of our customers (CSI remain firmly committed to providing its service to trade only contractors!)
Proof that we are competitive comes in the form of orders to fire rate other manufacturers mezzanine floors at B & Q!
You will note that we alluded to fire rating other peoples floors at B & Q. Be assured that on the occasions where we fail to win the floor order, we are still very happy to provide ancillaries such as fire protection or partitions!
And Finally……