RETAIL | Business check
DC Interiors David Silkstone, director
It’s been an interesting couple of years, the market has been a little up and down to say the least. I would suggest this year is on par, if not slightly better than last year though. Things are still a bit challenging but on the whole we are doing extremely well. We have a high percentage of work come in through recommendations and this keeps us very busy most of the time. We also find we pull in a lot of business by being able to manufacture units to almost any size rather than just the standard sizes you tend to get in lots of retailers. It’s difficult to gauge the Brexit effect and I suspect there are people hanging on to their money, just in case, but it is hard to say whether it’s made a significant impact. We’re not too involved in contract work as we prefer to deal direct with our customers. We find it’s best to keep things simple and controlled in-house, that way we can provide a good-quality service and fitting, spending plenty of time doing what’s required to make sure our clients are delighted with their new kitchen or bedroom as well as the price. And it works – this individuality and attention to detail. In terms of marketing and advertising, we have our own website, and also advertise in the local press and magazines.
Most of our customers are usually aged between 30 and 60 years old and the average spend varies significantly. As a rough guide, the most economical bedroom we supplied recently was for about £1,100, but it’s usually between £2,000 and £6,000. Mostly the price for a kitchen usually falls between £5,000 and £15,000.
In terms of appliance brands, we supply Bosch, Neff, Caple, Hotpoint, Stoves and New World. We manufacture all our furniture ourselves, which means we can make any size and colour and that gives us a great advantage. In terms of sinks and taps, we tend to use Franke and Carron Phoenix as the two primary ones. For worktops, we use Durapol laminates, quartz and granite. We don’t have any issues with our suppliers and most of them we’ve dealt with for a very long time. Maybe they could improve their pricing structures, but other than that, we have no complaints.
The market has been a little up and down to say the least
Ultimate Bathrooms Paul Thomas, director
Interior Solutions Matthew Dearing, owner
At the moment, things are a little bit slow, but we’re booked up until, and into, October. Over the school holidays, things always slow down, but we’ve still got enquiries and work on, so we’re doing OK. We’re a touch down on last year, I would say, but business is still fairly consistent. From what I can gather from reps and people in the industry, I would say that the market is just a bit flat. I think Brexit is having an effect and that things have slowed slightly, but we’re regularly updating the showroom and putting in new displays. We’re a small family-run company, so we don’t bother with the contract market.
Enquiries are very good. Footfall is down but the enquiries are of better quality. I think there might be a little bit of uncertainty around but it’s also holiday season. It’s different on the kitchen side from the bathroom side because with kitchens, lots of people will be planning extensions, so will start talking much earlier about those sorts of projects. I would just say we provide a quality service, give the customer what they want
and always do the job correctly. We find that most of our customers are 45+ and want to spend a bit more money and do things properly. We’re not the cheapest – I would say we serve the middle to upper end of the market and our customers want someone who can take the whole project on. We’re not the sort of outlet that just sells “a bog in a box”. Average spend on a bathroom is about £12,000 and kitchens range from £12,000 to £60,000. Maltby, where we are based, is an ex-mining village and then you’ve got places
like Tickhill and Bawtry that are quite affluent, so we have mixed bag of customers as we deal with people up to a 20-mile radius around our showroom. Do I think bathroom manufacturers could market themselves better? There’s some beautiful product out there, but no one has ever heard of it. No one would come in and say “I want a Keramag bathroom suite”. They’ll look at our displays and pick what they want based on what it looks like. We are specialists in walk-in showers. We sell nearly all digital showers and nearly all the WCs we sell are wall-hung. Everything’s geared towards making life easier for the end user. We also do a lot of mood lighting and sensor lighting, which we’ve done for 12 or 13 years – as well as accessories. We do offer a more holistic, end-to-end service. I don’t think our suppliers could do much to improve
We’re not the sort of outlet that just sells “a bog in a box”
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their service to us. The suppliers we use we work very closely with to help give our customers a sense of how a bathroom is put together.
We like the way we do business and are happy with our level of turnover. In terms of marketing and advertising, we do some bits and pieces on Facebook and advertise in the local glossy magazines. Most of our work comes from recommendations. We’re well-known in the area and well-respected, so get plenty of business that way.
Thinking about our ethos and strategies for success, we try and keep the showroom up-to-date and keep up with the latest trends. We keep our social media going. But above all we offer a high-quality service. The key thing we small independent companies can offer that’s different from the big brands is high-quality service, with care for the customer and attention to detail – getting the job done right. You have to offer the full package and look after the customer from start to finish, and offer great backup. This is key to our model.
Brands we supply include Neff and Bosch, Silestone, Franke, Carron Phoenix.
We buy doors in from TK Components and carcasses from Getley. In bathrooms, we use Merlyn, Porcelanosa tiles and Nuance shower panels, which we do really well with. For bedrooms, we use Browns 2000. Regarding our suppliers, we’re fairly happy. People make mistakes, but if mistakes are made, they’re rectified pretty quickly.
We’re a
touch down on last year I would say but business is still fairly consistent
kbbreview · September 2019
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