Larger companies in the fastener business are still seeing growth which is positive news for the rest of us and – when you think about it – pretty astounding given the current challenges facing the global economy. It’s factually correct to say there are worse businesses to be in.

Recent financial reports from those larger businesses are often a nice opportunity to drill down into the details of what is succeeding, in particular.

Let’s look at Würth, always worth (no pun intended) examining, given the range of sectors the global group works across. In the first half of 2023, it noted interest rates were hampering the construction sector. Conversely, it saw electrical wholesale seamlessly continue the successes of 2022, seeing a huge 17.3% rise in H1 2023. Würth saw this as evidence of the boom in renewable energies, particularly photovoltaic installations. Würth also saw companies within its chemicals unit see strong growth in H1 2023.

Yet again, Würth saw its e-business grow again and it’s probably now setting the standard in this area. E-business sales grew 15.2% in H1 2023, accounting to 22.1% of total sales.

There are probably not many surprises to be taken from those pieces of information. Equally, though, it’s probably fair to say they point to longer term trends – a further shift towards renewable power and an ever-increasing drive towards e-business and therefore digitalisation. When the current difficulties of the global economy are a distant memory, both these elements seem likely to endure and boom.