MANUFACTURER PROFILE | The 1810 Company
Redrow and Berkeley Homes – which got the brand name out there in the market.
“As we developed and the brand became more well-known, the studio brand developed organically,” he adds. “Independents are an extremely important, and powerful, part of this industry and we are a big supporter of them. “We carry around 15,000 sinks and around 13,000 taps in stock at any time and offer next-day delivery. So, from a service aspect, everything is geared up to support the independents.” It might sound like everything has fallen into place easily but,
as Williams insists, it’s taken 10 years of hard work – plus his previous 20-year career in the industry – and having the right people around him to get the business to where it is today. “The fi rst 12 months were a bit of a slog and I went through a spell of thinking ‘what have I done?’,” he admits. “I’d invested all my money in the business and it just wasn’t moving on. Then it just started taking off and moving in the right direction. I’m proud of where the business has come from. In the beginning, we might have got one-in-fi ve of the sales – if it was something that no one else did – and now we’re the only supplier to a lot of retailers. And that’s down to having the right people on board. “The past nine years have fl own by. The business is well- established, it’s solid and we’re not having to sell our souls to make it grow, so we can enjoy it.”
Having achieved so much in just 10 years, I’m keen to hear
what Williams has in mind for the business moving forward? “It’s diffi cult to quantify, really. I think we’ve achieved what I initially set out to do, which is to become a major sink and tap brand in the UK. I just want to carry on enjoying seeing the company thrive, developing our staff and playing a part in the success stories of our retail partners.
“I live in the real world, I know there will be diffi cult times, but if
we can achieve what we’ve achieved through a major recession and the ripple effects of Brexit, then I honestly am very excited to see what we can achieve in the next 10 years. “We are now a very credible sink and tap brand out there in the market. We offer a good product at a fair price and deal with people the way we want to be dealt with – which is respectfully.”
kbbr 62 kbbreview · September 2019
Williams on… Showrooms….
Showrooms have to have working displays these days. Don’t underestimate the power of
experience. You wouldn’t buy a car before taking it on a test-drive, so why isn’t it the same with KBB products? The more people can interact with the products, the more likely they will be to buy a kitchen or bathroom off you.
Succession planning… When you launch a business, you always start out with the idea that, once you’ve built it into something, eventually you’ll sell it on. But, as it becomes more successful and you have other people around you who are great at what they do, you can start enjoying it more. I still get a buzz coming into work. I absolutely love it. So I’m just looking to enjoy the next 10 years.
Company culture Since we moved into our purpose-built premises in Mold in 2017, honestly, there’s just a fantastic atmosphere around the place. I love the industry and I love what I do, but what I also love is developing people and seeing them rise up through the business. I have a solid management team round me – most of whom have worked their way up through the business. While I may have started 1810, they’ve certainly helped me get the company to where it is today. Hopefully, with the people we’ve got coming up through the business on the fi nance and sales side, I’d like to say the business will be around for a long time after I’ve gone.
The competition I don’t think other brands took us seriously in the beginning. I’ve seen businesses start and fail. I’ve seen some small companies who’ve tried to copy what we’ve done and failed. In a way, the more the competition are aggressive against us, the more of a compliment I see it as.
The AXIX sink range The idea came from our national sales manager Daryl Southwell and we launched it
at kbb Birmingham last year. It combines a solid surface, quartz or stone worktop with a purposely-designed, single-bowl undermount sink, which when completed gives the appearance of a steel-bottomed, material-clad sink. It’s an affordable solution for a really high-end look. I got such a buzz when I spotted it on display in three different Wigmore Street showrooms recently. We’ve also had some interest from Australia, Canada and America about the concept, so it’s inadvertently kick-started our export business.
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