Dear Customer,

I wanted to write to you again to update you on developments as they are happening in our supply chain. You will no doubt be aware by now that we are seeing extensions to all lead times that are increasing as demand in the industry continues to outstrip supply. We are seeing extended lead times from door suppliers and are having to deal with a huge number of stock shortages and missed dispatch dates. We are not alone, and I am sure many of you are seeing your own issues from other suppliers.

Further to this, MFC board supply across manufacturers is being extended again and again. To put this into context, last week we had 4 full articulated trailers of MFC on order and received just 1. We received just 24 hours’ notice that the other deliveries could not be made. The popular colours are worse affected with many orders - when they do arrive - still hot from being manufactured. This causes its own problems with panels bowing when on machinery. We have increased stock holding on all items where possible, but this has been dramatically eaten into over the last 3 weeks as supply has slowed. We are still offering lead times of 6-7 weeks and are committed to giving you the best service as possible, but it is important for you to understand the challenges that we face and that many of these are outside of our control.

The best advice I can offer you now is to plan your orders in advance and place your orders as early as possible to avoid disappointment with your customers. We will continue to do everything we can to reduce lead times where possible. The only slight upside is that this is an industry wide issue and all manufacturers are being faced with similar issues; with that in mind I am hoping your customers are understanding of these facts and your customer relationships are not adversely affected.

Thank you for your custom and for your understanding in these new and unseen times. As ever if you would like to discuss anything then please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best wishes,

Tom