Round-up | NEWS
kbbreview Retail & Design Awards 2021 open for entries
THE KBBREVIEW Retail & Design Awards, the biggest and longest- running awards in the kitchen and bathroom industry, is now open for entries. It is free to enter. There are categories that reward the best design projects at various budgets, as well as trophies for the best retailers or showrooms. There is also a new category for 2021 for Installation Company of the Year, acknowledging the vital role quality installers play.
The 2021 awards launch against the backdrop of the pandemic and
there will be a one-off category – the Lockdown Support Special Award – specifi cally for suppliers highlighting those companies that supported their retailers through the crisis.
The business categories - Retailer of the Year, Showroom of the Year, New Retailer of the Year and Community Champion of the Year - will also see the judging criteria change to refl ect the lockdown and each retailer’s response to it.
Sponsors currently include Neff, Roca, Vitra, AEG, Hansgrohe, Impey, Used Kitchen Exchange and Hettich.
“I’m so thrilled that in this extraordinary year we are able to launch the awards as normal,” said kbbreview managing editor Andrew Davies. “I think it’s so important that one of the industry’s most signifi cant bellwethers carry on and celebrate the very best it has to offer at a time when everything is so uncertain and I can’t thank our sponsorship partners enough for their incredible support. “Clearly, we can’t pretend the pandemic isn’t happening and the affect it has had, and is still having, on business. So this will be an awards like
RETAIL & DESIGN
no other - the entries, criteria and judging will all refl ect what’s going on and what the reaction has been. It may sound odd, but I actually can’t wait to hear the stories of survival, furlough, refl ection and pent-up demand.”
• To fi nd out more about how to enter, sponsor and our plans for the event, go to
www.kbbreview.com/awards
New bathroom supplier promises exclusivity and better margins
Homebase trials new high-street kitchen and bathroom showroom
HOMEBASE HAS launched a new type of high-street showroom dedicated to kitchens and bathrooms. The showroom is a dual-branded Bathstore and Kitchens by Homebase.
Originally a Bathstore showroom on Sydenham Road, Guildford, the new concept store offers a full design and installation service. Homebase is offering free 3D design appointments with customers in-store for both kitchen and bathroom projects. Homebase acquired Bathstore in July 2019 after the bathroom retailer went into administration the month before. Homebase now operates 155 stores and 16 standalone Bathstore showrooms and is trialling new high- street stores.
This is the second type of new store November 2020 ·
format that Homebase is trialling. The fi rst new high-street stores were two Decorate by Homebase that were launched in May 2020 in Cheadle and Sutton, which focus on paint, wallpaper, fl ooring and tiles. The split-level showroom has its ground fl oor dedicated to Roux and Copperbridge kitchens from Moores, while the fi rst fl oor is a Bathstore section that has a range of bathroom displays. Homebase offers a selection of leading brands, such as Villeroy and Boch and Duravit on the bathroom side, as well as appliance brands such as Neff, Smeg, Bosch and Kitchenaid. Homeprojects, Homebase’s installa- tion team, will take on the installation service and fully fi t the kitchen or bathroom. The work comes with a two-year workmanship guarantee.
NEW BATHROOM supplier One of One, created by the directors of Harrison Bathrooms, will target the higher end of the market and offer exclusivity for retailers. The project has been in development for four years and was offi cially launched on October 1. It is owned by Harrison Bathrooms directors James Harrison, Georgina Harrison, Gregg Latham and Shaun Corcoran. Corcoran is commercial director at One of One. He said: “Retailers have been under increasing pressure to compete on price, not only with online retailers but also local competitors. At One of One, we are committed to supplying high-quality, value-for- money bathroom products to showrooms to enable them to make a healthy margin for a sustainable long- term partnership.”
One of One offers location exclusivity that, the company says, will provide a competitive edge. The Harrogate-based company will
supply its two own brands, Harrogate and Dawn.
Harrogate has a focus on classic- looking furniture and vanity units, as well as sanitaryware, brassware and accessories. The products are designed in Yorkshire and are made with traditional production techniques. Dawn offers a variety of showering enclosures and bath screens. This collection has an emphasis on using modern designs.
Family-run Harrison Bathrooms will continue to run with the same directors. It is on target to meet its £40 million turnover target by 2023 and has recently opened a new warehouse.
Travis Perkins sells Tile Giant
TRAVIS PERKINS has sold its tile retail chain, Tile Giant, to Leeds- based investment group Coverings after a challenging 12 months for the company that saw profi ts fall and 12 stores close. The acquisition has been led by entrepreneurs Andrew Thirkill and Adrian Hinchliffe who hope to drive the Tile Giant brand forward, securing the future success of the retailer. Travis Perkins saw its profi ts plunge by 81% due to the pandemic. In its retail
category, which includes Wickes and Tile Giant, both revenue and profi t were down by 8.5% to £636 million and £32m respectively. Tile Giant has also seen 12 stores close in the past year – 11 of which have closed since June. There are currently 82 stores in the Tile Giant retail network, by comparison with 94 in December 2019. Tile Giant will operate as an individual company, with its own strategy, under the guidance of the brand’s existing senior leadership team led by managing director James Heese.
Andrew Thirkill of Coverings said: “These have been turbulent times for the tile
industry, but we fi rmly believe in what Tile Giant has created with Travis Perkins, with its core proposition of delivering high-quality, commercially competitive tiles and accessories to the UK retail market.”
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2021
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