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VIEWPOINT


‘We have a social need to eat together’


Continuing her monthly series, Natalie Peters of Kitchens Etc in Norfolk, describes her experiences during the final year of her Foundation Degree in kitchen design at Bucks New University


NEWS FROM KBB BIRMINGHAM 2020


THIS MONTH I’m feeling more back to my usual, positive self. For my last residential, Marsha Smith was one of our visiting lecturers. A visiting research fellow at Nottingham Trent University and PhD student at the Centre for Business in Society at Coventry University, she gave a presentation titled ‘Eating on Purpose’, highlighting the deep social around,


food


problem in contemporary UK society insecurity,


food wastage, and the


diminishment of people eating together. Marsha invited us to think about how we can tackle this by understanding that social sustenance is required for the healthy functioning of society. We have a social need to eat together and if we don’t, that causes insecurity about food and about ourselves. Marsha provided a pragmatic response whereby the practice of eating together more and in groups would be a positive social engine for society, but also a more sustainable way. Marsha’s work really struck a chord with me, when I heard her talk during the RSA Cultivating Community workshop and is another great example of opening the mind and thinking differently, which for our community kitchen project is invaluable. We also had a presentation


We journeyed through the different


phases of the kitchen


from Deborah Sugg Ryan, a British design historian and Professor of Design History and Theory and associate dean at the University of Portsmouth. Her presentation was ‘The Kitchen: From Living Room to Laboratory and Back Again’. This took us through the origins and history of the


kitchen and the two models – the kitchen living room and the decentralised kitchen – along with how the kitchen has meant different things at different times. It was totally fascinating. During World War II,


restaurants were set up as communal kitchens to feed the minds as well as bodies, whereas the Frankfurt Kitchen and the decentralised ‘worker’s’ kitchen started to look like a laboratory for one-person usage, based upon functional efficient cooking and working. We journeyed through the different phases of the kitchen, including the labour-saving kitchen, the freestanding, the fitted, the show kitchen and the kitchen back as centre stage as a multifunctional networked space and finally ‘Kitchenism’ – the idea developed by Maggie and Charles Keswick Jenks, where the kitchen invites you to be part of it. Deborah referenced different parts of her presentation to Marsha’s, which helped cement the learning together. We were also extremely fortunate to be given comments and feedback on our work so far for our community kitchen project by them both.


• Natalie is sponsored on her course by Franke April 2020 ·


New Abode MD sets out vision for the brand


MATTHEW PITT, the newly appointed MD of Abode has revealed details of his five- year plan for the business. Speaking to kbbreview from its stand at this


year’s kbb Birmingham show Pitt – who recently took over the role from Abode founder and former MD Darren Holliday – explained how growth, export and strategic product development are all key elements of his strategy. “We are on a growth mission and, importantly, we see a path towards growth,” he said. “Abode is now 18 and we’ve gone from £0 to a £16m turnover business. So, if we maintain that curve then this business could comfortably be a £40m business within my time with the brand. There’s no reason why we couldn’t be a business of that scale.


“Part of my vision is that, within the next five years, Abode will be exporting. It’s too soon to nail down which markets we will target – I want to look at it strategically – but, being part of the


Norcros Group, we already have sister


companies overseas so that is definitely something we will be looking to exploit.” As part of his strategy, Pitt revealed that he – and his team – had identified key trends that are shaping the brand’s offering. “We’ve recognised a number of trends that guide people’s behaviour,” he explained. “Smart homes, for example, is going to be massive – we see that as a real growth area and we will follow those developments.


“The next is sustainability which is starting to permeate into consumers’ minds – they want products that are sustainable and they are prepared to shop around and pay more. “And, lastly, as more and more of us are living in smaller homes in urban environments, compact living has already had a huge impact on our product offering. For example, – our Pronteau hot water collection which is perfect for small spaces.”


Industry urged to back new Worktop Fabricators Federation


LAUNCHED AT this year’s kbb Birmingham show, the Worktop Fabricators Federation (WFF) is set to raise standards and strengthen relationships between KBB retailers and fabricators.


The WFF – which took two years to develop – is the result of a collaboration between five independent fabricators and aims to provide a voice and a focus for specialist fabricators, and a quality and provenance touchstone for kitchen installers.


Speaking at the launch WFF founding director Mark Mills (pictured second left) said: “Designing, templating, creating and fitting stone worktops is an exacting and professional business,” says WFF founding director Mark Mills. “As the market has grown and matured, so installers have increasingly become concerned at the – sometimes costly – consequences of dealing with untried suppliers.


“WFF aims to do everything it can to capture and develop the professionalism of our industry – giving retailers and customers confidence that in dealing with a WFF member they are getting the very best product and service.” The initiative is backed by three of the industry’s biggest stone worktop brands: Neolith, Cosentino and Caesarstone.


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