Falmec | SUPPLIER PROFILE
‘100% committed to independents’
As the exclusive distributor for Falmec in Ireland, Sean Drumm knew the Italian cooker hood brand inside out. So, when he was approached to head up Falmec UK, he grabbed the opportunity with both hands. Simon King meets him and business development manager Ron Blount
F
almec UK MD Sean Drumm first came to the UK from Ireland in 1989 looking for work opportunities and he was recruited by Blanco, where he worked for six years.
The sink brand then supported Drumm to go back to Ireland, where he started selling Blanco through his Showtime distribution business. “We then added Falmec and Lacanche to the Showtime portfolio,” says Drumm.
Then, in July 2019, Falmec and its original distributor, Euroline, decided to go their separate ways.
“At that time, Falmec said it had six months to fix things,” Drumm explains. “The management came to me and offered me the opportunity to head up the UK division. I said that I would need some assistance, and the first person I called was Ron Blount, my old boss at Blanco.” To show his commitment and belief in the Falmec brand, Drumm has a 40% stake in the UK business with the remaining 60% of shares owned by Falmec. “I never wanted to leave the UK in 1995,” Drumm explains. “I was always hoping that some day I would come back, so the Falmec opportunity arose, and it’s obvious why I wanted to do it.”
In August 2019, Blount and Drumm went over to Falmec, having already formulated a business plan. “Falmec was very supportive of it and reckoned establishing a UK subsidiary was the right thing to do,” Drumm says. “The brand has known me since 2000 and there was an element of trust between [us].”
Falmec UK began trading on
January 1, 2020. The business had made plans to exhibit at the kbb Birmingham show in March 2020 and had already started its recruitment drive to build the team – then came Covid-19.
“There was so much uncertainty in the market,” he says. “We didn’t know what was going to happen in the UK or around the world.
“All the plans for buildings and warehousing to operate Falmec UK from were put on hold. Instead we worked out of a two-bedroom flat, because in the background people were still working. Some kitchen studios were still trading.”
But with the first orders coming in, Drumm conceded that there was a big problem. “We had a warehouse full of product, but we couldn’t access it, as the warehouse we were using wasn’t fully operational because of Covid, “Eventually we moved the product to another, fully operational warehouse. In the meantime, though, so that we didn’t let anyone down, we hired a big truck and Ron and I went around the country delivering.” Drumm’s track record with Falmec
We are 100% committed to
independent studios. We can see the pressures that they’re under and we’re here
to support them Sean Drumm, MD, Falmec UK
Ron Blount (left) and Sean Drumm
should not be underestimated, as the Italian brand is the market leader in extraction in the Republic of Ireland. Looking back at the pandemic, Drumm says that March 16, 2020 – when the then UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, called time on non-essential contact and travel – was the worst day, but he said that business started to get better and better, because it was selling products. “We had a bit of a whoop,” explains Drumm, “and then in September 2020, the Government killed it again.” “Our business exploded on May 1, 2021, when retail reopened again. Orders started to come in and, the kitchens that had been put on hold were moving forward again. With no holidays for two years, customers had lots of money in their pockets. “We were already building in the background. All we can do is just keep going. When one door shuts, we have another go.”
Ron Blount says that the reopening of retail really made the difference.
“We could actually get out and start meeting retailers and telling our story,” Blount says. “We shipped a number of containers prior to 2020 to fill the warehouse with product that we’d purchased. Brexit certainly increased our transportation costs, which went through the roof.”
Drumm tells kbbreview that the business is 100% committed to independent kitchen specialists. “We love the kitchen studios,” Drumm says. “Our customers know our names and we like to talk to them. We can see the pressures that they’re under from outside and we’re here to support them.
“Falmec is here to make showrooms look fabulous with our products. We have 11 different categories, and we offer solutions all the way across the range and that’s why we’re so important to kitchen studios.” So, what is it about its product that makes Falmec such a good propo sition for independent kitchen retailers? According to Drumm, central to its product line-up is its build quality. “Our products should last 20 years – our mantra is, ‘it’s built to a standard and not a price’, and that’s very important,” he says.
“Falmec never changes something to make it cheaper. “When it’s hung on the wall, the finish is first class, because it has to be. We’re a company that manufactures its own hoods – 90% of cooker hoods are made by companies in Romania or China, or simply have a badge put on them. All Falmec products come from the company’s own factories.”
Family-owned
Falmec is a family-owned business. run by a father and two sons, who are extremely passionate and enthusiastic about what they do.
“I’m really fond of them. They trust me and I trust them. Our end game is to be the market leader, which, going by our own figures, is going to be over the next couple of years.”
Drumm predicts that in 10 years’ time, Falmec UK could have a turnover between £15million and £20m, because of the amount of products that it has. “We are ramping up all the time, and there’s no reason, absolutely no reason, why we shouldn’t be
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October 2022 · 37
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