NEWS | Round-up


NEWS FROM KBB BIRMINGHAM 2020 Baumann launches bathrooms in UK


GERMAN MANUFACTURER Baumann, which is the parent company of kitchen brand Bauformat, has launched its bathroom furniture brand, Badea Bathrooms, to the UK market at kbb Birmingham.


The company has been selling its bathroom range to the German market for 20 years and has now expanded this category into its export markets, which includes the UK.


Dirk Kleykens, export manager UK for Bauformat, said: “We have been doing bathroom furniture for at least 20 years. We already have our two kitchen brands, Bauformat and Burger, but then there was a third brand that was the bathroom furniture. In


the


past, it was always for the German market and not for the export market.” The brand’s launch into the UK bathroom sector coincides with the launch of a new collection. Unveiled at the show, it will be available for the UK and German markets.


that was unveiled at the show.


Retailers missing a trick by not selling bedrooms, says IDS boss


WITH THE bedroom furniture market worth £880 million, Andy Russell, MD and owner of Interior Door Systems (IDS), told kbbreview at kbb 2020 that retailers should be cashing in on the bedroom market. Speaking to us on the IDS stand, Russell emphasised that bedrooms are no longer the ‘forgotten B’ in KBB. He said: “I think they should have got into it possibly two or three years ago. We are on the crest of a wave. “The market is definitely growing for bedroom furniture. Last year it was valued at approximately £880m. Six years ago, the sliding door element of that was 4% of the fitted bedroom market and forecasts are that by 2024 that will have grown between 22% and 26%.” Russell was clear that there was more convergence of the retail and contracts markets: “These three markets – kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms are coming together more and more. Most of our client base is multi-use product. They are being used as dividers in kitchens and we have done projects where people want to use our doors divide off the bedroom from the en suite. It is just evolving in all areas.”


IDS, Russell revealed, also has


ambitious growth plans to double turnover over the next four years. But


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he acknowledged that it will need commitment from everyone at IDS. He told kbbreview: “It’s no good just me committing to it. There will be the opportunity for a management buyout. We have made some employees directors and as an incentive they get a dividend each year to get them tied in. And now they are thinking ‘this is mine’.”


Russell added that they had been


doing good business this year at the kbb show. He said: “This year, I would have to say that it is the first time I have been so positive as to say let’s book again. We were at the very front of the hall last time and people just walked past us. The quality of the leads was low because people were browsing – mentally buying but not physically.”


Buying groups out in force


BUYING GROUPS were out in force and vying for new customers at the kbb show in Birmingham. Der Kreis (KBBG), MHK and the Sirius Buying Group were open for business.


Speaking to kbbreview on the Der Kreis stand Bill Miller (above left), MD of the Kitchen Bathroom Buying Group (KBBG), which is part of the Der Kreis Group, said: “Membership is growing and we have invested in recruitment. From January we have had a new salesperson join our team and that takes us to three field sales people. We see that growth in membership continuing – we are growing at the rate of around one new member a week. My goal from day one has always been 500 members and I see no reason why we shouldn’t achieve that over the next couple of years, and I think we may bring in another 100 members this year.” And visitors to the stand are more aware of Der Kreis, according to Miller: “It has


been very heartening at the show so far to see the number of people coming on the stand that have some recognition of us – before that wasn’t the case.” On the MHK stand, kbbreview spoke to sales director Paul Wheeler (centre), who was very upbeat about progress in the UK.


He said: “Our membership grew substantially last year and also in terms of the business each member was doing with us. We more than doubled our turnover last year.”


Over on the Sirius Buying Group stand, kbbreview caught up with commercial director Steve Jones (pictured right), who had a confession to make. He said: “We have had a fantastic reaction from retailers at the show. We have signed up a couple of retailers today, which I wasn’t expecting to do. They get what we can offer. We have 171 members in total with 250 stores. Of that 35 are kitchen studios but we are selective about who we take on. Quality not quantity.”


· April 2020


Kleykens said: “We decided to export the bathroom furniture as we saw a big demand for it. In the UK, you have kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms. They are separate industries but they are also all together.


“In a lot of other countries, kitchens and bathrooms don’t go together and they are separate but, in England, there are a lot of KBB dealers.” The range can be customised and be used in conjunction with other bathroom products like brass and sanitaryware. The vanity units have the choice of Bauformat’s own sinks and come in a range of combinations. The furniture range comes in a variety of textures and styles and has the same sleek and modern design as its kitchen range. “We have a lot of drawers and doors from our kitchen range and when you have a door type there is a carcass that can go with it. If the door is high- gloss then the carcass is high-gloss. It has a dark grey back that matches the inside of the drawers,” Kleykens said.


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