Frontline managing director, Darren Allison, says that with renovation budgets under pressure, manufacturers need to make sustainability easier for retailers to sell – and stop assuming the showroom can absorb the cost.
For all the industry’s talk about sustainability, the retailer is still too often the person left explaining why it costs more. A manufacturer changes a material or introduces new technology, the additional cost reaches the showroom, and the retailer then has to persuade a homeowner that it is worth paying.
That conversation was never easy. It is harder now. Houzz’s latest research shows that the average planned renovation budget has fallen from £14,000 in 2025 to £10,000 this year. Homeowners are still doing the work, and bathrooms remain one of the most common projects, but they are starting with nearly 30% less money.
More than a third still go over their original budget, so customers are looking closely at every upgrade and deciding where they can cut back.
If a sustainable product costs more, the retailer needs a proper reason to give the customer. A green badge and a paragraph of vague claims are not enough. That does not mean the industry should ease off. We need products that use less water and avoid wasting energy.
We also need to reduce plastic and lower the impact of getting products into customers’ homes. Some of that work will cost money. New tooling, testing and alternative materials require investment, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest. But passing the full bill down the chain should not be the first answer.
Manufacturer responsibility
Manufacturers need to look harder at what can be changed within their own businesses before another increase reaches the retailer. Can packaging be reduced? Can warehouses use less energy? Can damaged stock and unnecessary waste be cut? These changes may not produce an exciting product launch, but across thousands of units they can make a real difference.
They can also make the business cheaper to run rather than adding another premium to the product. There is no point creating a greener bathroom if only a small number of customers can afford to buy it.
Product development still matters, but the benefit needs to be clear enough for a retailer to explain across the showroom desk. A tap that avoids unnecessary hot-water use makes sense. So does a bath that needs less water to reach a comfortable depth. The customer can understand what has changed and why it matters without sitting through a technical presentation.
Manufacturers also need to give retailers better evidence. How much water does the product save? What has been removed from the packaging? Does it reduce household costs, and what does it add to the selling price? Retailers can work with facts. They should not be expected to defend broad environmental claims that fall apart as soon as a customer asks a sensible question.
Retailers should also feel able to challenge suppliers before giving a product showroom space. An environmental claim on its own is not enough. The evidence has to stand up, the price difference has to make sense and the customer benefit should be easy to explain. If a salesperson cannot describe the value in a sentence or two, the manufacturer has probably not done enough work.
Smaller operational improvements cannot become an excuse for avoiding bigger changes though. The industry still needs to invest in the products and manufacturing methods it will require in the years ahead. But we cannot keep adding costs and assuming the retailer will find a way to sell them.
Sustainability can survive the renovation squeeze, but the numbers still have to work. Manufacturers need to make better products, give retailers stronger evidence and absorb more of the work themselves before another cost lands at the showroom desk.