THE KBBREVIEW INTERVIEW | Mark Radcliff e
ambitious but, at the same time, extremely humble about his achievements and sincerely grateful for the people who have helped him along the way. Looking at what is now a multimillion-pound online
M
bathroom business, it’s hard to believe that it was started – with the help of four credit cards – by a 19-year-old bathroom industry rookie, from a shed in his parents’ garden. He makes it sound so easy but, as anyone who’s ever tried knows, you must have the drive, the vision, the ambition, and the capability to start a business. Aspects he doesn’t shout about or even acknowledge he has until they are pointed out. “It’s funny, I don’t really think about the success or
realise it at any point until someone makes the point that it’s successful,” he says. “I still don’t really think about Victorian Plumbing like that. It’s just a job really – one I’ve done since I was 19.
“I started the business at 19 with four credit cards – no family money,” he explains. “Believe it or not, that start was an advantage because it taught me the value of money and how hard it is to earn it. As a result, there’s very little wasted money in the business, because I’ve created a culture where every single person in the business appreciates how hard it is to earn money.” By his own admission, Victorian Plumbing just ticked along in the background for around five years while he concentrated his efforts on his e-commerce mobile phone business, which, until around 2005, when the mobile phone accessories market became saturated, had been his most successful venture. “That’s when I turned my attention to Victorian Plumbing,” he explains. “I saw that the industry had a lot of old heads that didn’t seem to – at that time anyway – want to embrace online retail and I felt that there was a real
opportunity EXCLUSIVE or it will fail’ 38
‘A BUSINESS MUST ADAPT,
Mark Radcliffe, the founder of online giant Victorian Plumbing – ‘the UK’s No1 bathroom retailer’ – says all KBB retailers must look beyond the physical showroom to survive. Rebecca Nottingham went to meet him...
for that business
[Victorian Plumbing] to move forward. “Then it really took off during the recession [of 2008/2009] when consumer habits changed. They started
looking for better value and internet
shopping took off. We grew considerably from that point and it’s never really stopped.”
Q & A
Q: How does a self-confessed bathroom novice succeed in building a multimillion-pound online bathroom business? A: I believe we honestly could have sold any commodity product that had potential, because the key elements
that have made the
business a success are the marketing along with the understanding of web and e-commerce technology. Of course, we all love bathrooms and – as we’ve been operating in the sector for 23 years – we know a fair bit about them too now. But the product itself isn’t the focus. The focus is establishing and building a brand and creating and developing the technology behind it.
• April 2023
ark Radcliffe is everything you want a hugely successful entrepreneur to be – confident, forthright, intelligent, and
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
