3 of 7    mortgage levels also had some impact on total sales. When the house market slowed down, people tended to spend more on DIY activity to improve the attractiveness of their houses, with an inevitable effect on the level of paint sales. For the branded product range, alterations in colour demand meant that sales volumes needed to be continually monitored. The trends in demand are in Table 4D. The current branded product range had ten colours produced in two tin sizes, one and two litres. Sales varied considerably within the range with the best selling line over the past 5 years varying between brilliant white, Table 4D.  Five year branded sales history by type - 000's litres, with year 5 most recent. Year                          1 2      3      4      5 Brilliant white    400     425    500    600    750 Magnolia                325     400    420    400    425 Oyster                  200     220    250    275    325 Sand gold               260     280    280    270    260 Black  225     380    380    400    550 Lime green          160     120    200    160    125 Clear blue             450     400    450    550    650 Aluminium           500     200    350    440    640 Bitumen                 200     300    450    700    600 Textured white      300     300    300    500    450 Total branded        3020    3025   3610   4795   4775 aluminium, and bitumen. Homecolour had a reputation in the trade, and among the more knowledgeable customers, for producing higher quality exterior paint than the competition, and it was in this sector of the market that the company achieved its highest sales. Market surveys suggested that the company had around a 5 per cent quality advantage over the competition. The own label production was much more varied in colour and tin size - the company, over the past 2 years, had produced around 50 different colours in up to 5 different tin sizes. Currently there were considerable variations in the type of packaging that was provided in the own label and branded sectors. The company had yet to standardise on a single branded theme and the level of instructions on the packaging varied considerably throughout the product range. Each pack had the Homecolour logo, and limited instructions. As the recession worsened, there was a steady increase in the number of consumers turning to DIY for their decorating. A considerable number of consumers without experience of decorating were now buying paint. A survey had revealed that an increasing number of customers were finding paint quality dissatisfying because of their failure to properly prepare surfaces. This survey revealed that 46 per cent of current customers failed to remove current paint from surfaces; and over 50 per cent expected that one coat of paint would be sufficient to cover all previous paint or wallpaper products. In order to remain competitive, against the two major companies in the market, Homecolour had to ensure that a high level of stocks were maintained in the major outlets. The pressures on selling space within most retail outlets were becoming intense, and shortage of stock had in several cases ended in  the company being  de-listed by three regional DIY chains. The current sales pattern had shown that the company was experiencing major problems in certain of the outlets with sales significantly below plan. Own brand sales were 20 per cent down on plan  - which had envisaged a 5 per cent increase in volume; while branded products were within 2 per cent of plan  - based on an 8  per cent volume increase over the previous year.