The garden equipment market is composed of three main sectors which are garden tools and machinery, garden furniture and barbecues. Together these market sectors were worth £618 million in 1996, with garden tools and machinery accounting for 55 percent by value, garden furniture 29 percent and barbecues and accessories 16 percent.

Like many other consumer durables, this market has been affected by the UK's economic climate, experiencing significant growth in the late 1980s while growth was dampened during the unusually long recession in the early 1990s. The last three years have seen some recovery.

However, unlike many other consumer durables, these garden products are also affected by a much stronger influence than the economy, which is the weather. The summers of 1995 in particular and also of 1996 proved to be very good in terms of temperature and lack of rainfall. This had the effect of boosting sales of garden furniture, barbecues and accessories and reducing sales of lawnmowers as consumers' lawns required cutting at less frequent intervals.

Major issues affecting spending on these garden products, other than the weather, include tenure of dwelling, house moves and house building levels, demographic factors, composition of households, consumer spending and the degree of household penetration.

The garden furniture market was worth around £180 million in 1996. This market is made up of tables, chairs, table & chair sets and others. Table and chair sets are the largest sector of this market and are estimated to account for 38 percent in value terms. Their sales have grown significantly due to lifestyle changes, people entertaining more at home and increasingly eating outside. Another growth sector is that of upholstery, with interest in home decor extending to the garden as well. Young families make up a significant proportion of buyers of garden furniture and in particular table and chair sets.

Garden furniture can be made of metal, wood or plasticresin. The latter is the dominant material accounting for 43 percent of the market in value terms, with sales having grown significantly as product quality has improved. Metal has declined somewhat mainly due to the demise of tubular aluminium which has now been replaced by plasticresin products at the lower end of the market. Wood is benefiting from a tendency to trade up.

Major suppliers of garden furniture include Oasis Leisure and Li-Lo Leisure each with an estimated 9 percent market share, Sommer Allibert, Hartman, Keter and Geebro.

Major channels of distribution for garden furniture are DIY Multiples with a 35 percent share of the market, followed by garden centres, departmenthigh street stores, catalogue stores and mail order.

Annual sales of barbecues are estimated to be worth around £40 million, with fuel worth another £40 million and accessories £16 million. Although barbecues have been around for a number of years it is only fairly recently that their popularity has grown significantly in this country. This sector is also dramatically affected by the weather, particularly fuel and accessories where sales are directly related to frequency of use.

There are four main types of barbecues: charcoal (excluding kettle), gas, kettle and electric. Charcoal accounts for over 45 percent of the market in value terms and the figure would be even higher in volume terms due to the lower than average price. Meanwhile gas barbecues, which have a much higher than average price, account for 42 percent of market value and sales continue to grow. Barbecuing appeals to all age groups and is generally a family based activity.

Major suppliers of barbecues include Landmann and Crosslee with 8 percent each, Kirklees, Camping Gaz and Thermos each with 7 percent, Black Knight and Weber.

Garden centres and DIY multiples are the main outlets for these products, with others including mail ordercatalogue stores, department stores, high street chains and hardware shops.

The garden tools and machinery market is estimated to have been worth around £330 million in 1996. Included within this definition are lawnmowers and tractors worth around £60 million, power tools worth £26 million and hand tools worth £16 million. Lawnmowers are a mature market with high penetration levels and erratic performance. This was particularly poor in 1995 due to the detrimental impact of long periods of dry, hot weather. Hand tools are also a mature market, leaving power tools as the only sector of this market which has experienced any substantial growth in the last few years. The sector which is relatively new is composed of strimmers accounting for around 48 percent of sales blower-vacs and others such as hedge trimmers and powered rakes. Innovations likely to result in greater growth in this sector in the future include cordless power tools.

Major suppliers of garden tools and machinery include Flymo, Atco-Qualcast and Black & Decker which are all major manufacturers of lawnmowers and power tools. In the hand tools sector suppliers include Wilkinson Sword, Spear and Jackson, Bulldog and Samuel Parkes. Major outlets include DIY multiples and garden centres as well as specialist independents which are usually dedicated to garden machinery.

There is likely to be some growth in all three markets over the next few years, with most growth in the barbecuing and power tools sectors. However, the trend in every sector will be greatly influenced by the weather, in addition to lifestyle changes and consumer confidence.