NEWS | Round-up
VIEWPOINT
We need a less consumerist approach to living
TKC CEO Roy Saunders on compact living, saving the environment and the importance of trust and integrity in business
EXCLUSIVE
Smallbone of Devizes owner acquires McCarron & Co
LUX GROUP Holdings, the owner of the Smallbone of Devizes, Mark Wilkinson Furniture and Brookmans brands, has acquired manufacturer and retailer McCarron & Co for an undisclosed sum.
THE ENVIRONMENT has the highest profile of all topics at the moment – I am deliberately overlooking the Trump/Kim PR stunts and the Boris/Hunt boringness. And so it should. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Anita Rani did a very good job of calling out companies in their recent BBC show – War on Plastic – by targeting all the supermarkets, fast food chains and plastic manufacturers, such as Ineos among others, and giving them a public drubbing about their wanton and wasteful use of plastic. They are leading the charge to change people’s behaviour and make them more mindful of consuming less and recycling more. There is a long way to go, but this topic has undoubtedly gathered significant traction over the past year and is far more in the mainstream consciousness. Hats off, too, to Sir David Attenborough for stealing the show at Glastonbury at the age of 93 and thanking revellers for not using plastic. I hope I have half his drive in three years’ time, never mind 33. Being more aware of what we consume and how we live links with kbbreview’s theme this month of compact living. We all know there is a major trend towards urbanisation, with The Olds – my age group – considering downsizing and moving into towns and cities alongside the younger generations who want to be there anyway. High-density housing and smaller house footprints are keeping designers and manufacturers busy developing products that will deliver
Trust and integrity continue to be important
all the functionality, design and aesthetics for compact living spaces. We’ve never sold as many tall larder pull- outs! Well-designed storage is one of the consumer’s top considerations, according to Houzz. Which all points to a less consumerist approach to living. Ditch the single-use plastic and get a refillable bottle, move away from fast fashion and recycle and up-cycle more, and if you are not a disciple already, look up Marie Kondo on Netflix and she will teach you how to thank all your clutter and get rid of it. I’ll share with you the results of one of our customer surveys. What interested us was that 77% of respondents rated customer service of equal importance to price. Often, when market conditions are challenging, price is king and trumps everything else. But investment in relationships, doing what you say you will do and behaving with trust and integrity continue to be important. There are a few businesses where these values are
currently under scrutiny. There’s the news that Bathstore has terminated all its installer contracts leaving more than £1 million in unpaid wages, and that five of the directors of Patisserie Valerie were arrested and questioned in connection with a Serious Fraud Office investigation. But the prize has surely got to go to Southern Water for its spills from wastewater into the environment and misreporting their performance. The £126 million fine is well deserved. Let’s hope they don’t just load up customers with higher payments in the future to recoup it.
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The business and assets were bought on July 12, securing the future of 41 employees and continued production in Bromham, Wiltshire. Two of the three McCarron & Co showrooms – Chelsea and Bromham – will continue trading, but the company has confirmed that the Notting Hill branch will close.
Samantha Clegg, group head of marketing for Lux Group Holdings, said: “McCarron & Co are a great addition as the brand ethos complements our current offering of the finest British bespoke furniture pioneering new designs and techniques.
“This is the perfect platform and timing for us to progress our luxury business and develop a major share in the global luxury kitchen industry.”
Lux Group Holdings is the new name for SMWF Ltd, the company formed in November 2018 to buy the business assets of former Smallbone of Devizes and Mark Wilkinson owner Canburg in a pre-pack deal.
It is a subsidiary of Sapphire 700, the umbrella group owned by New York-based real estate specialist Gary Barnett’s Extell Development Company
The McCarron & Co move is serendipitous as founder Andy McCarron started the company in 2009 after more than 20 years at Mark Wilkinson Furniture.
Warendorf: Hong Kong investor in final phase of rescue deal
THE ADMINISTRATORS for German kitchen firm Warendorf – Die Küche have announced that the Hong Kong-based investor that signed a purchase agreement to buy the company on June 11 will legally take over the business by “mid-July 2019 at the latest”.
The new company will be called Warendorf Küchenfabrik GmbH and former chief executive of Warendorf – Die Küche, Stefan Hofemeier, will take over as sole managing director of the new company. In a statement from administrators Pluta Rechtsanwalts, it was confirmed that the unnamed Hong Kong-based investor has agreed to take over the business following the formal approval by the administrators and the creditors’ committee appointed by the Münster Local Court.
The statement said that all conditions contained in the previously signed purchase agreement had been met, with the exception of a restructuring agreement, and works
agreement based upon it. Pluta did reveal, however, that, after intensive and “tough” negotiations with Warendorf’s works council, staff numbers at Warendorf would be reduced by 21 in anticipation of the later transfer of the business.
The chief executive of the Hong Kong- based investor said of the deal: “I have known the company as a customer for years and am convinced of its product and quality. A kitchen of the Warendorf brand with the ‘Made in Germany’ award has very high potential in the Far East, which we will be able to increase even further with our very good sales contacts.” Insolvency administrator Stefan Meyer commented: “With the great support of all those involved, first and foremost the works council, the IG Metall trade union and its advisors, but also the representatives and advisors of the purchaser, we have successfully managed to unite a number of very demanding and extremely challenging conditions among many parties involved in a very short space of time and to bring together different streams of interest.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved once again for their hard but always fair and constructive negotiations. I consider the missing signatures under the collective restructuring agreement to be a mere formality. In my opinion, the responsible head of the IG Metall office is of the same opinion. It goes without saying that we accept that the purchaser would like to wait for this in accordance with the contractual regulations.”
kbbreview · August 2019
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