NEWS | Round-up
The UK has been in and out of lockdown for months. Retailers have been forced to close, reopen and close again. They may have adapted to safety protocols and remote consultations, but fears remain that future orders and installations will suffer...
Installations and government support top concerns for KBB retailers as new restrictions bite
FUTURE ORDER levels and instal lations were top fears for KBB retailers once again forced to close their showrooms under the latest lockdowns. We contacted the kbbreview100, our nationwide panel of expert KBB retailers, to see what their main concerns were about the new lockdown. Trevor Scott, owner of Rugby Fitted Kitchens, took the ‘tough’ decision to furlough some of his staff as the showroom is closed and only working remotely. The Rugby-based retailer also raised concerns about supply issues.
Scott also believes the Government could do more in terms of fi nancial support during lockdowns. He told kbbreview: “Financially, along with all other retail and hospitality businesses forced to close, the latest miserly grant Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced won’t even scratch the surface of the loss of profi ts we are all going to suffer.” Paul O’Brien, director of Kitchens International in Scotland, believes that installations will be an issue. He said: “The main challenge from last year’s lockdown was the subsequent backlog of installation works. This put
Retailers fear latest lockdown will impact future orders
KBB RETAILERS said they were worried about the impact the latest lockdown will have on orders in three months’ time. Reports from showrooms on the run-up to Christmas revealed that they were booked up until March, but with the latest lockdown set to continue
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until at least February 15, retailers were concerned about fulfi lling these com mitments and how a break in workfl ow could impact future orders. Victoria Anderson at Elliotts Living Spaces in Lymington admitted that this latest lockdown had put a ‘downer’ on the start of the year, as the Elliotts team
were optimistic. However, Anderson said she had a clear strategy to make sure this lockdown will not affect Q2. MBK Design studio’s Stewart
Woodruff in Maidstone believes that there may be a shortage of work as customers are currently not able to come into the showroom. He said:
tremendous pressure on us to complete pro jects in a condensed time frame.”
Ian Coghill, director of Riddle and Coghill in Edinburgh, is convinced that the Scottish Government doesn’t understand how important the KBB industry is by forcing them to close their showrooms.
Richie Hanley of Kitchen Creations by Ability in Chester does believe that independent retailers should be given special allowances, as they can control who comes through the door in a better manner than a supermarket.
He said: “I think it’s a little ridiculous – the fact that you can go to a super - market with numerous people in an uncontrolled environment. In the showroom, we can control the number of people inside.”
Johnny Bacigalupo of Napier Bath- rooms in Edinburgh, on the other hand, was waiting for the vaccine to be fully rolled out and had rebooked bathroom installations for later in the year. He said: “Having a new luxury bathroom
is not an essential
requirement and, as such, all non- essential businesses need to close.”
“This new lockdown will prevent us from signing up new work. When we come out of lockdown, we will potentially be without any booked work.” Jane Ive of the Bathroom Design Studio in Harrogate understands that there might be a lag on not just orders, but also the supply chain.
She said: “Lockdown will have a time-lag effect on sales uptake later in the year. I found that coming out of the last lockdown there was a need to be much more reactionary to customers who were not fully on realistic timescales. This, partnered with an increasingly limited supply chain, has resulted in a stress on all parts to keep projects moving.”
· February 2021
LOCKDOWN 3.0 THE INDUSTRY REACTS TO
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