THE KBBREVIEW INTERVIEW | Anthony Sant
AO recycled plastics are sold back to manufacturers such as Beko
anybody that supplies electrical appliances has the responsibility to take the items away. The WEEE regulations were designed to drive the disposal of WEEE away from landfill and make sure it was all dealt with properly. But when it started all the responsibility was with the manufacturer - that’s expanding to now include the retailer. The government is now measuring the difference between the volume that’s collected versus the volume placed on the market and it’s now started to stagnate at about 40% no matter what we seem to do. While we were part of the EU, it was very much the expectation to achieve a 65% collection rate, so we haven’t even come close. For distressed purchases invariably when you come to deliver the new item, the old one is ready to take away. However, the biggest kept secret was, of course, how much
MDA is sold in the kitchen space and it became very apparent during covid when you’d go out for your walk and see a skip outside someone’s home with the old kitchen and all the old appliances sticking out. So the kitchen retail space is a hugely important sector for
government to truly drive
collections because it’s an area that’s being missed.
Q: So what makes it so difficult? A: The challenge that you’ve got is the disparity in time between the old kitchen and appliances being taken out and the new ones put in. So unlike distressed purchases the old ones aren’t there when the new ones are delivered. The great thing about AO is we’re in every postcode every day so we’ll deliver when they want to and take away the old ones when they want us to. We need to be responsible retailers and, as the
Sant on supply issues
Q: Has AO seen any issues with product availability like so many other retailers? A: AO has always operated on the premise that we’ve got items sitting in the warehouse and we won’t sell anything we haven’t got. The first challenge kitchen retailers have is that, often, you sell on manufacturer lead times. So you’re making a promise on somebody else’s promise. The second is that everything has to match because you sold a suite of products and you could have six chances of it going wrong. Equally, because most customers are distressed purchases, if they’re looking for a specific product and they can’t find it, they’ll buy something similar. So, the supply challenges have been less of an issue for us. Don’t get me wrong, there have been lots of products where I could’ve sold thousands and thousands more if I could get them. So, I’ve really felt for the kitchen retail market because it’s been hard.
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Q: AO has enormous buying power so there might be some who think that puts you at the front of the queue when products are available? A: Genuinely, that’s a question I don’t know the answer to. I can’t comment on what someone else’s policies might or might not be. But I would go so far as to say that I don’t buy the idea of the big business constraining the market and grabbing hold of loads of stuff. Far from it actually, I don’t think that happens at all. In most cases manufacturers are fair and amicable and try to look after all of their customers as best they can under difficult circumstances. They’ve had it tough and faced loads of challenges, whether that be silicon chips or Ukraine, there is lots going on in the world that make things incredibly hard. I think it’s just going to take a while to get things sorted.
• For more on this, see our analysis pages 33-35 regulations start changing and it
becomes more and more important for retailers to take control of it in this way, people will start appreciating the value that AO brings to a partnership.
Q: One of the biggest differences with the likes of Homebase is that the independent sector is more premium and that’s not AO’s natural space, is this a shift for you? A: We’re steadily moving in that direction
and its definitely baby
steps. We have our core range of products that are very suited to our current customer base. We do sell premium brands and as there is a need for more of these ranges then of course we will add them to the core range.
I think the most important thing about it is that for us to have a successful relationship with the
independent retailers within the kitchen space, they’ve got to truly appreciate the value of what AO brings to the relationship and we’re going to go on a journey with that, there’s no getting away from it. At this point, do independent retailers, truly understand the importance of taking away the old electrical items? I’m not sure whether that fits into their thinking at this present moment. I think one of the challenges you have with legislation changes and the move to environmental changes is that sometimes it’s not a cheap thing to do. But as that journey goes on and it becomes more and more important for all kitchen retailers to collect the electrical items at the point when they deliver the new ones, then they will value a partnership with someone like AO because if they don’t use us, they will have a cost elsewhere. it will be their
responsibility to bring the
electrical items back to their shop or warehouse and then they’re going to have to fund the disposal.
Q: What’s your view on the market going forward into 2023? A: Genuinely, I don’t know is the honest asnwer. There is a huge amount of uncertainty, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be doom and gloom. The important thing is that if you are efficient and mindful of costs and do things in a sensible and correct way, you will always have a business to run. I will get up every morning and make sure that we continue to deliver the best possible service to our customers. If you support your customers through difficult times then in the good times they should just support you more.
· November 2022
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