KITCHEN RETAILER PROFILE | Kitchens International
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1. Leicht display with Noyer wood open shelving and a 60mm laminate timber effect table 2. Stoneham island with Silestone worktop in Lyra 3. Located in the centre of the showroom, this Leicht display features a new concrete finish and Siemens Studioline appliances
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Some retailers think too short- term. They’re so focused on making more margin right now that they fail to see the bigger picture. We prefer to take a more holistic, longer- term view
offer a great opportunity for us to promote ourselves and form a part of our marketing strategy and it’s also always nice to be recognised by your industry.” O’Brien tells me that the real value is not only in the winning of the award, but in the entry process, which allows retailers to look at their businesses objectively. It gives retailers the opportunity to reflect and analyse and implement any changes that might need making.
“But we also use the awards as a barometer. Most retailers, including myself, are guilty of getting stuck in the thick of their businesses and the awards entry process gives us a chance to reflect – to challenge ourselves and ask whether we’ve followed through on commitments we’ve made publicly in the past. Have we made the improvements we said we would, or implemented the ideas we said we would? “It’s all well and good having great ideas and a great strategy, but often people are too busy being busy to implement those.”
Changes
“In the years that we haven’t won,” O’Brien says, “we’ve made most significant advancements and changes in the business. In 2017, we didn’t win and we completely overhauled all of our processes from start to finish. We looked at every single stage – from the client’s perspective, at our efficiency and we made lots of changes. “So there’s plenty of value in simply entering. It’s worth that investment and that homework. I would also say to remember that the past doesn’t equal the future. Just because something has
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worked before doesn’t mean you should shut the book and close yourself off to change. The reason we’ve won a few times is that we’re constantly developing and learning.”
So how did Kitchens International get to this point, and how does it feel to reach this milestone? At the heart of KI’s success is a real dynamism, passion and, as O’Brien tells me, “a real drive to deliver the ultimate kitchen experience to our customers”.
Great teamwork is also a core value of the business and the company is set up in a way that is dynamic and flexible, with KI’s Effective Smaller Teams operating each showroom and the various departments.
“This decentralised autonomy to make decisions impacts greatly on our people’s attitudes towards change and makes them more open to it,” O’Brien explains. “It’s also empowering for our staff to have that responsibility as ideas coming right from the front line of the business will often be implemented across the showroom network.” “But most importantly,” O’Brien adds, “our brand is our culture
and its culture is our brand. It’s about why we do what we do, as much as the way we go about doing it. We have a pretty clear understanding of our clients. “We spend a lot of time analysing what they want and what they
need. And we’re continuously striving to improve our performance. The feedback we get from our customers is invaluable to us. We use this every week. We drive ourselves pretty hard and are our own worse critics. We have a healthy attitude to change and developing new ways of doing things.”
kbbreview · September 2019
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