Heywood battles on as PVC market takes a dip

The PVC construction materials market has suffered a decline of more than 5%, fabricator and manufacturer Heywood Williams (HW) has claimed.
Chief executive Robert Barr said the firm noticed the drop mostly in the windows market, but expects an upturn in the conservatories market.
HW last week recorded
a half-year pre-tax profit of £3.1m, compared with a £600,000 pre-tax loss in the first half of 2003.
Barr said the company suffered when receivers moved into BHD, one of HW's customers.
KPMG last month closed BHD's Portland Conservatories business in Manchester, with 68 jobs lost.
Barr said profit was also hit by customers that were lost during supply chain disruption last year, as well as the cost of the unsuccessful launch of window and door
locking system Centralock. Barr said HW now has a less binding contract with the system's
supplier.