NEWS | Round-up EXCLUSIVE
Manufacturers must ‘get a grip’ on online pricing, says CP Hart
BRANDS MUST accept some ‘responsibility’ for online product pricing discrepancies, according to CP Hart group sales director Paul Rowland, but he acknow- ledges their hands are tied because of retailers’ legal right to sell at any price they like. In an exclusive interview for the award-winning kbbreview Podcast, Rowland said: “The manufacturers have a res pon sibility, but they also legally can’t get involved with price-fixing.
“If they choose to sell to someone who will put something on a website for a ridiculous price, then that is their decision to sell to them in the first
place. They have no control over what price they put out into the marketplace.” Rowland acknowledged that CP Hart, which has 15 showrooms around the South-East and one in Manchester, is in a strong position to not be too concerned by consumers comparing prices online. “We have a lot of exclusive own-brand products that we sell,” he said. “But I do feel for other retailers [who aren’t in that position] that have to go along and fight every inch of the way for every single SKU on a quote. The manufacturers have to take control of it.
“It might be they are getting to grips with it but, from a legal standpoint,
they cannot control pricing.
“When we are doing a full quotation, and a client comes back with ‘I can
buy this on the internet for that amount’, we have hopefully done our work at the beginning that assures that the client has been invested in CP Hart and the knowledge of our experts.” Rowland believes that those interested in the luxury market would not purchase a full bathroom online. “Web sales are a distress purchase, and particularly at the higher end of the market, you need to touch, feel and see products and understand design, longevity, and quality.” CP Hart’s website accounts for only around 2% of its £45 million turnover. To listen to the full podcast and many others, go to https://kbbrpod.
kbbreview.com/
Tradespeople don’t deserve the bad press, says TV’s Mark Millar
MARK MILLAR, presenter of Channel 5’s Dream Kitchens and Bath- rooms and project manager on the BBC’s DIY SOS, believes the shows help present tradespeople in an excellent light to the general public. Talking on a recent episode of the kbbreview Podcast, Millar (pictured) spoke about his relationship with the tradespeople on his shows and how much he admires these skilled workers.
BRC warns of flood of retail closures as rent help comes to an end
THE BRITISH Retail Consortium (BRC) has warned that two-thirds of UK retailers could close after landlords become free to take legal action to recover rent arrears from July 1.
The government moratorium on aggressive debt collection during the pandemic ended on June 30. The BRC pointed out that with thousands of retailers forced to close for long periods, many have accumulated huge debts that they can only now start to repay. Total rent debt is estimated to stand at between £2.9 billion and £4.5bn. A survey carried out by the BRC found that across British retail as a whole, two-thirds of retailers had been told by landlords that they would face legal action from July. We surveyed our kbbreview100 think-tank of retailers nationwide to find out their experiences.
Most who responded said they had succeeded in keeping up with rent
6
payments during the pandemic and its lockdowns.
Richard Reynolds, chairman at CP Hart, which has 15 stores, said that it had paid all but three of its 14 landlords and was in wider lease discussions with the remaining three. Trevor Scott, chief executive of RFK in Rugby, said RFK asked all three of its landlords for a three-month rent holiday back in March 2020, which they agreed to. RFK has since paid back all of its outstanding rents. At retailers association the KBSA, national chair Richard Hibbert said many of its members had negotiated rent reductions or rent-free periods or kept paying in full.
The BRC has called for the Govern- ment to give retailers breathing space by ring-fencing debts that have accumulated during the pandemic. BRC chief executive Helen Dickin- son commented: “The unpaid rents accrued during the pandemic could result in a tsunami of closures.”
When questioned about the public perception of tradespeople mainly being based around rogue traders, Millar said: “Unfortunately, we do see the side of that all the time. Bad press sells news, and people love to hear that sort of thing. I’ve been on DIY SOS for 18 years and spent the past year on Dream Kitchens and Bathrooms, and I have come across nothing but professionalism. “There are a lot of professional people out there. And it always surprises me how much they care. Tradespeople take pride in what they are putting in a property. I I think of tradespeople as artists. It is art and engineering mixed together. Don’t think of tradespeople as Joe Bloggs with a crack in his backside sticking over his jeans. These are very talented, skilled people.”
DIY SOS is filmed over 10 days and compresses almost three months’ of house and building work into a short time frame. During that period, there are almost 120 tradespeople working on-site. Millar noticed that all of the tradespeople had to become more creative with their way of working. He said: “We do three months’ worth of work in 10 days and you need people who can work under that pressure. After about halfway through day one, people get into it, and they realise they have to push through, be ingenious, and think of the best way to get particular jobs done.”
Commenting on the current skills gap, Millar said that he had noticed a shortage of skilled people, especially as the demand in the construction industry has grown since the start of the pandemic. But also, he sees the shortage of new young people coming into the industry. He said: “The manual trades have been left behind a little bit. I would say to the younger people who want to come into this sector that it is a fascinating place to start your career. I started as a joiner on building sites and I thought that this could be my life. I had no idea that I would end up on TV. “The construction industry is a fantastic business to be in, whether kitchens or bathrooms or building houses. It is a thinker’s place – a clever place to be. You use your brains and your hands.”
· July 2021
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