At Knauf Insulation, they’ve adapted to a ‘new normal’ over the past year. Their commercial team have swapped face-to-face meetings for virtual ones so they’re able to stay close to their customers and even speak more frequently.

In 2020, Knauf Insulation launched their new series of 15-minute online training modules for merchants. Each module focuses on a specific insulation topic or application to help merchants better serve their customers and make the most of link-selling opportunities as the industry recovers.

One of the big questions raised is just how rapid that recovery will be.

This report shows that merchant sales in May were 40% down on last year, though they rose sharply compared to April. At Knauf Insulation, they have seen increasing demand since the beginning of May 2020, helped partly by the stamp duty relaxation.

There are other reasons for optimism on the outlook for insulation. The government’s widely publicised Green Homes Grants of up to £10,000 for home energy efficiency improvements will provide an obvious short-term boost.

The real boost comes if the Green Homes Grant is just the start of a national investment in the energy efficiency of UK homes. The current consensus on the need for major public investment to create jobs, improve housing stock and meet emissions goals gives us a historic opportunity (and the reality is, there is no path to achieve net-zero without widespread retrofits using high quality insulation).

Knauf Insulation are playing their part to ensure that the opportunity isn’t missed. The chancellor’s announcements followed a successful campaign run by the Energy Efficiency Infrastructure Group, supported by the Mineral Wool Insulation Manufacturers Association (MIMA) and partners including Knauf Insulation.

Knauf Insulation will continue to talk to government to make sure energy efficiency remains at the top of the agenda for a green recovery.