Our history

When the recession began to bite across the country in 2008, the company was in a robust financial position as it had also become a successful player in the commercial market, supplying house builders, local authorities and other trade customers.

“Investment was put into the business mainly in the form of machinery, putting more than £1 million into our own factory and we also brought in extra people to build up the commercial side very successfully.”

And we are also a great example of how a business can run into financial difficulty…and emerge successful and ready for the future.

In 2016 when the commercial work started to dry up - much of it had been based around local authority contracts, working towards the governments decent homes standard - Yorkshire Windows found itself facing the classic problem that confronts many businesses.

For even though the company managed to weather the storm of the 2008 recession, it eventually fell victim to the crisis that faces many other companies - the problem of outstanding and unpaid debts undermining the company’s stability.

Yorkshire Windows turned to Sheffield business turnaround experts Graywoods and with their support a successful way was found to transform the business and prepare it for a relaunch, with Ian Chester stepping in as Managing Director.

By the New Year of 2017 a new, more streamlined Yorkshire Windows was back in full operation and since then it has gone on to maintain a workforce of 20, open a new permanent showroom at the Ferndale Garden Centre in Dronfield and see sales increase by 27 per cent, despite a still challenging trading environment.

“Any business can experience the sort of cash flow problem we faced but we also proved that any business can survive if it takes all the proper steps,” Ian says.

For the future, Ian remains confident that after creating firm foundations, there is plenty of room for sustainable growth.

“It’s such a competitive market now and it is a very different market from the 1980s, with lower margins and much greater competition,” he says.

“We want to concentrate on the retail sector of the industry and on the jobs we are successful in winning, completing them to the very best of our ability and therefore creating a solid base of repeat and recommended custom."

“Today’s market is more about areas like energy efficiency, acoustics and aesthetics - the product has changed, the market has changed and we have changed too."

“And by embracing that change we feel confident that people will be able to continue to rely on the Yorkshire Windows reputation for excellence for many years to come.”