Callerton | SUPPLIER PROFILE


The Balham 70 door in painted Okra and Dried Lawn, from Callerton’s Frame Effect range


seeing the completed kitchens, containing our furniture, still brings a lump to my throat and fills me with pride to think ‘we helped to create that’!” Aside from understanding kitchens, manufacturing and design, what’s apparent during my conversation with Short is that the glue that binds all of that together is the company’s understanding of what it is that retailers need to make their interaction with consumers as straightforward – and successful – as possible. “Relationships are at the heart of everything we do and critical to our success and growth,” she explains.


Benefit


“Not only do we understand what it takes to design and sell kitchens to end consumers, we recognise that without our retailers we don’t have a business. Maintaining and developing the ties we have with the individuals that make the independent retailers we work with is at the core of our business. They are friends and colleagues, and we want them to succeed, which we both benefit from. Which is why everything we do is tailored to making their lives as easy and straightforward as possible. “We are focused on developing competitive products, with family values as regards providing service, assistance, and back-up to our retail and trade partners – with a proven ethos of putting the customer first.”


Perhaps one of the best examples of this commitment to understanding the needs of its retail partners, is the fact that it developed its own example of a Service Level Agreement, the lack of which – across the entire KBB industry – retailers have been


February 2023 ·


bemoaning for some time. “We introduced our Needs and Requirements document specifically to show our commitment and support to our retail partners,” says Short. “It details what a retailer requires from us as a manufacturer in a variety of areas, from product range, to timescale, and on to product quality. We then detail our requirements, including providing a realistic and acceptable manufacturing timescales and our commitment to the ongoing education and development of staff.


“This means we all know where we stand and, perhaps most importantly, helps ensure we’re all getting things right first time and, for whatever reason, if something does go wrong, it is dealt with quickly and effectively by all parties.”


The brand prides itself on being a British design-led furniture manu- facturer, but what else does Short believe makes Callerton stand out from some of the other successful furniture brands on the market? “We’ve always been seen as being a bit different,” she says. “We’re obviously very proud of our


painted kitchens to


European brands, we believe our size and proximity to our retailers can bring many benefits, including flexibility and lead times. Each kitchen is manufactured in-house to the retailer’s specific requirements. “We understand that designing, installing, and managing a kitchen project can be challenging. To assist our retail partners, we aim to turn around small orders in two weeks to ensure they can complete the projects on time.”


Callerton, Short says, regularly updates its product


We’re focused on developing competitive products, with family values regards providing service, assistance, and back-up to our retail and trade partners – with a proven ethos of putting the customer first


heritage and keen to promote the benefits of buying British. We have a diverse portfolio, ranging from traditional


cutting-edge


contemporary designs and, we’ve never been afraid to mix the two styles together either!


“Although we have a huge respect for the


offering as well, to ensure it remains “relevant, exciting, innovative and price competitive”. “Recently, the price of oak rose significantly, but at the same time, we experienced a dip in quality,” Short reveals. “To maintain product quality and protect price point, we therefore made the decision to move away from painted oak and towards ash painted.” As you’d expect of a business that’s just about to hit the big Four-Oh, Callerton has undergone some major change and development over the years, none more significant


than the implementation of its recent 12-month investment programme.


Callerton has made a significant investment in its


factory in the North-East with the introduction of new buildings. This not only allowed them to increase capacity in a bid to meet the needs of its growing


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