RETAILER PROFILE | Alexander / Masterfit ‘C


huffed to bits’ was how Alexander managing director Phil Beechinor described his feelings on winning the title of Installation Company of the Year at the kbbreview Retail & Design Awards 2022. “For me personally, that is what I set out in life to do – to set up an installation company,” he explains. “I set out originally in 1985 to be a kitchen fitter and worked for Paula Rosa, then set up


Masterfit. So finally to get


recognition for what I set out to do, I was chuffed to bits. I was really proud. And my thanks go to Warwick [Hockley], who runs it. He has been the man at the top of Masterfit for the past 20 years.”


As he says above, Beechinor had always wanted to be a kitchen fitter and after a spell doing fits for Paula Rosa he set up his own business primarily installing kitchens for various local retailers and later bathrooms, when Alexander started doing bathrooms around five years ago. As his fitting business evolved and


grew, and he was doing more and more work for Alexander, he decided to set up the Masterfit installation company in partnership with Alexander founder Terry Linkhorn.


Beechinor recalls: “In the old days, retailers would pay fitters direct and no one was making any money on installations. But they still had to deal with all the problems.


“And no one ever wanted to go


back for a remedial as it should have been right in the first place and by that time the subcontractors would be off to another job.” As business grew for Alexander and Masterfit, Beechinor found himself getting more involved with Alexander and by 2000 Linkhorn, then aged 70, was becoming less involved with Alexander on a day-to-day basis, and so Beechinor stepped in as MD, and appointed Warwick Hockley to fill his shoes at Masterfit.


Beechinor remembers: “Warwick [Hockley] was already an integral part of the business, looking after the warehousing and delivery.


“He had done some sales and took over Masterfit at quite a young age for such as senior position, bearing in mind he was dealing with older, experienced fitters.”


Hockley takes up the story: “I have been part of Masterfit and Alexander now for around 29 years. In 1994, I started to work for Terry at Alexander. At 15, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do and my first role at Alexander was in the accounts office, while also studying for my NVQ qualifications. I then did some work in the warehouse, on deliveries and in the showroom. Then Phil set up Masterfit, which was originally going to do installations for several companies in the area. But as Alexander grew and grew, it was decided that Masterfit would be an exclusive installer for Alexander.


74


Many may have been surprised when Worthing KBB retailer Alexander won our Installation Company of the Year award. But while Alexander is the retail face of the business, separate company Masterfit does all of its fitting. Chris Frankland talks to Alexander MD Phil Beechinor (right) and Masterfit installation manager Warwick Hockley


A PERFECT


“So when Phil needed to fill Terry’s shoes, I had to step into Phil’s. “Masterfit is Alexander’s sister company, run completely financially separately, but so far as the customer is concerned, it is all one business. Masterfit only fits kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms for Alexander.”


Seamless


Masterfit is of course a key part of the Alexander business, but so far as the customer is concerned, it operates seamlessly as one entity.


Masterfit


takes care of all aspects of customer care. If there is any warranty work or problems with appliances, Masterfit handles that too.


Hockley explains: “We have always believed that customer service is important – as much after as during the sale. As the business grew, we


needed to create full-time customer service roles for times when people couldn’t get hold of me or Phil because we were on-site or doing a survey.” Beechinor adds: “Now customers get a call three, six and nine months after the installation. A lot of the time people don’t want to be bothered, but, on the nine-month call especially, they may say, ‘can you just pop round and look at this and that’.”


And Beechinor points out that sometimes customers may ignore a loose handle, but then friends who are looking at it will notice that, which may reflect poorly on Alexander. “Now, when we phone them, we can pick that up sooner and put it right. Because that kitchen is an advert for us, for future business. And our workload and sales figures show that it has paid off.”


Indeed Masterfit is now doing six installations a week on the retail side and another three kitchens a week on the contracts side and has a total of 23 employees. And they employ all trades – kitchen fitters, plumbers, electricians, carpenters and plasterers. Some jobs may take just a week, plus templating and fitting worktops, whereas others will take six to eight weeks because they may have to take a wall down. And 50% of Alexander’s business is from referrals and recommendations and so people already have the confidence in them before they walk through


the door, says Beechinor.


Worthing does attract the grey pound while Horsham has a lot of business professionals. “All of them either want the security or they are time-poor and they do not want that hassle.”


· May 2022


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