NEWS | Round-up
CDUK founder Geoff Baker dies aged 86
CDUK FOUNDER and chairman Geoff Baker died peacefully aged 86 on May 15. Baker is survived by wife Ruth and three children, Warren, Debbie and Gary, who joined CDUK in 2006 and is now group managing director. Andy Noble, divisional managing director of CDUK, said: “Mr Baker was a great businessman, respected by all and a true gentleman. Always charming, witty and funny. Driven and relentless, yet wise and considered. He was curious and interested and sought solutions to problems that our customers didn’t realise they had. “Personally I consider myself very lucky to have joined CDUK at a time when Mr Baker was still involved on a day-to-day basis and certainly learned
a lot from him. I learned even more about him from our customers early in my time with the business and the stories they’d tell me, of the respect and affection many had for Mr Baker. For many of our customers, he helped give them a start in business and supported them to grow with CDUK and Corian.”
Baker was described as “hugely innovative and having great vision for what people wanted when it came to high quality kitchens and bathrooms”. Baker started out running a plumbers merchant, Taylor Baker, with his uncle, and went to Sweden to source stainless steel sinks at a fraction of the cost of many UK-made products. They sold well and the business thrived, spurring him on to
sign a similar deal for pressed steel baths with a producer in Austria. CDUK became the distributor for Corian surfaces in the UK in 1979 after Baker discovered the DuPont material during a business trip in 1976 while he was searching for a product that could be used to create an integrated basin for bathroom vanity units.
CDUK has since become one of the largest purchasers of Corian in the world. Under the guidance of Baker and his long-time business partner Toni Hibbert, the company thrived. CDUK now has more than 50 staff and
EXCLUSIVE
JT improves lead times despite high demand and supply shortages
Howdens sales continue to bounce back after lockdown
HOWDENS JOINERY Group saw UK revenues climb by almost a half (47.1%) in its first 16 weeks trading in 2021. For those 16 weeks to April 17,the group’s latest trading update reported overall sales up by 47.1%, and by 46.1% on a same-depot basis, which excludes any new depots opened during that period. This was compared with equivalent periods in 2020 when, Howdens said, business was impacted in Q4 by the Covid-19 lockdown measures.
In addition to its 751 depots in the UK, Howdens also operates 30 depots in France and Belgium. It saw revenues in its European operations during these 16 weeks more than double, with a 108% increase compared with the same period last year – 105.9% on a same-depot basis. Compared with 2019, revenue was up by 37% (19.7% on a same-depot basis). The Howdens Joinery board said it was confident that the group remained on target for its plans this year. The group also plans to open 35 new depots in the UK this year and a further 11 in France. It will also refurbish around 40 UK depots. In its 2020 full-year results, Howdens reported sales of £1.55 billion, down 2.3% on 2019. Pre-tax profit was £185.3 million, which was down 28.9% on 2019.
At the time, chief executive Andrew Livingstone said: “Howdens performed well during 2020. We adapted to Covid trading conditions and progressed our strategic plans for the business. Our performance demonstrates the strength of our trade only business model and our ability to evolve the business while prioritising the health and well-being of our staff and customers. The year ended strongly with profit and cash flow ahead of expectations and we were able to repay the Government furlough and other support taken earlier in the year. We are also pleased to be resuming dividend payments.”
6
UK SHOWER tray company JT is manufacturing at a steady pace again after a surge in demand between July and October that was 30% higher than 2019. Despite that growing demand, the lack of supply of raw materials has caused prices to increase.
Sales and marketing director John Schofield (pictured) spoke on The kbbreview Podcast about the issues that have caused pricing to become so unstable. JT’s costs increased 15% between March and April due to a rise in raw material prices and high demand. JT reviews its pricing structure every year in line with what is going on in the market and the increase in costs was carefully considered.
One cause was a supply and demand issue, as Schofield explained: “We have a eduction in global manufacturing but an increase in global demand. That only means one thing – shortage of products and price increases. “We saw significant price increases in Q4 last year and the turn of this year. Between December and April, the cost of our resin has gone up nearly 35%. In the worst- case scenario we
were only given two weeks’ worth of resin, and we didn’t know if we were going to get any further out than two weeks – and that would have ground the factory to a halt.”
Schofield said that JT is trying to balance out the extra costs through efficiencies and is able to swallow a bit of that, but prices will continue to go up. He said: “Pricing is unstable and we are now placing orders for further down the line, but we have no idea what we are going to be paying for it.” The availability of imported raw materials has been an issue for JT. Styrene – a main element in a number of the shower tray materials – has been difficult to get hold of. Becuase it is only made by a small number of factories and some have seen a variety of issues, such as a fire at one plant and weather-related issues at a factory in the USA.
Schofield also referred to the ‘mass confusion’ with handling of supply from manufacturers to their customers and at freight companies at the start of Brexit. Despite these short- term complications, Schofield does not believe this will have a long-term effect.
· June 2021
a network of fabricators operating across the UK and Ireland. Baker, said CDUK, was still contributing his unique blend of drive and business acumen well past his 85th birthday and continued to oversee the success of the Corian division. He was over 70 when he set up the designer cooker hood brand Air Uno.
Baker always focused firmly on the quality of products handled by CDUK, and on the firm’s 40th birthday in 2019, said: “You either sell cheaply, or you sell top-of-the-range. You can’t sell both. We only sell top-of-the-range products. When you sell cheap products, you’re selling based on price and discounts. You’re not selling the product. When you’re selling an upmarket product, you’re selling the features and benefits of the product.” Looking back on his career, Baker was asked if he would have done anything differently. He said: “I made lots of little mistakes. But business is made up of making mistakes and correcting them. “Well, it is with me. I suppose I did a few good things, you could say that. It’s been a hugely enjoyable journey. Quite marvellous, really.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
