RETAIL | Business Check
Mayflower Bathrooms Nathan Legg, managing director
This year started positively in terms of retail enquiries coming through, but we also supply the house-builder sector and we’ve seen some encouraging numbers here in terms of projects moving forward. The market seems to be coming out of limbo. It’s better than last year and more
positive than the year before. There’s greater confidence in the marketplace. Before, people were coming in, but they weren’t ordering and the contract jobs were there, but moved very slowly. We are supply-only, we don’t install, but we use recommended fitters. We used to install, but we found that installing and project-managing on top of the logistics of organising product for projects too difficult. We design, supply the projects and recommend trusted fitters. Thinking about trends, there’s more call for colour in the bathroom, as well as finishes like brass and matt black. And we’re seeing more bespoke options, too. Our strategy is always to invest in what we do. Last
year, we invested in the showroom and this year we employed a new salesperson. We use the latest design software, because we want to be the best at what we do. We want to inspire our customers and that’s why people come to us. The average customer spend, because we don’t supply tiles, is around £5,000.
The market seems to be coming out of limbo
Richard Johns Signature Kitchens Tim Cook, designer
Suppliers could improve their after-sales and train their own staff to help us with queries. They need to offer better back-up so they can fix issues in a timely manner. I think we’re going to see a positive 12 months, but I don’t think you can second-guess beyond that. Things can change very quickly. European suppliers have already invested in extra warehousing and stock. If
prices increase because of poor exchange rates, there’s only so much retailers can absorb, so the end customer will be paying more eventually. But all UK retailers will be affected by this.
Covey Kitchens Emily Covey, independent kitchen designer
Business has been quite busy recently. It’s picked up since last year and everybody is fed up of worrying about Brexit. My kitchens start at £5,000 and go all the way up to £165,000. Last year, there was a huge boom in the lower-cost kitchens at £15,000 and under, but now people are starting go for the higher-value ones at £20,000 and up. The reason I’ve taken this approach to retailing [no showroom and charging for design] is because I think everyone deserves good design, no matter how small their budget. If you have a budget of £5k to £10k, that’s still a significant amount of money and you shouldn’t just be fobbed off with a design put together in minutes. The kitchen should still work for you. So I try to offer this but can also offer completely bespoke luxury kitchens.
This year started off pretty slowly – 2019 started better. But we’re starting to pick up again now. Brexit concerns have affected us but we’re doing better and are booked up with some nice big projects. Value is normally around £25,000 to £30,000. We’re a very small independent but we tend to do bigger jobs that involve us knocking walls through and building extensions for clients.
We are
booked up with some nice big projects
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Thinking about trends, in Taunton people do like the handleless, sleek look. They like sintered stone worktops, too. We just try to offer the best service we can and think outside the box by offering something the customer might not have even thought of. We want to make their dreams a reality. We also won’t let the customer pay the fitter until they’re happy with the job and Richard, our managing director, personally visits and signs off every job. As a consequence, we get lots of recommendations. So we’re as positive as we can be nowadays as people are calling in and making enquiries whereas they weren’t a few weeks ago. We cover areas within a 30-mile radius of Taunton, but we’ll go anywhere – within reason. I think the fact that we do building work does sometimes give us the edge. A couple came in the other day and the first thing they asked was ‘do you project-manage everything?’ and the answer is ‘yes, we do’. So that helps, as people don’t want the hassle. We do all that for them. And the tradespeople we subcontract work just for us for that period and so far we’ve not been let down. Our suppliers could help us by delivering to site more, rather than the showroom, but we use who we use because they offer great back-up and customer service.
Always bespoke - no matter the budget
Using local cabinetmakers is great because it supports the local economy and they’re really competitive on price. The value is so much better. I am the middleman between the customer and these local cabinetmakers and by charging for design I give it value. I can really put time and effort into creating a design that works, rather than just filling a room with cabinetry because that’s where the money is. For many showrooms, because the design process is a loss-leader, not enough time is spent on it. And because I design each kitchen based solely on what that customer wants, there’s always a bespoke element to it, no matter their budget.
In terms of suppliers I buy appliances online, because you can often get them cheaper from AO than I could if I had an account with a big appliance brand.
· April 2020
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