V-Zug forges ahead with UK relaunch despite coronavirus


APRIL 9


PREMIUM SWISS appliance brand V-Zug has said it remains committed to


its UK relaunch


strategy despite the ongoing worldwide coronavirus pandemic. The brand – which withdrew its retail operations from the UK and Ireland in May 2018 due to “negative prospects created by Brexit – recently announced details of its plans to re-enter the UK and Ireland market, as part of its global growth strategy. Alberto


Bertoz, global managing


director of V-Zug, said: “It was obviously a mistake to leave the UK retail market in 2018. The UK and Ireland are signifi cant markets, so we have reviewed that and are keen to re-establish the brand’s here. “The way we started originally in the right. We didn’t invest


UK wasn’t


enough and didn’t have the right set-up to succeed. This time, we are back with a new structure, new team and are investing in the long-term.” V-Zug UK will be headed up by managing director David Knight.


New association aims for best future for bathroom retailers APRIL 9


BATHCOM HAS announced it is forming a new association for bricks-and-mortar


and bricks-


and-clicks bathroom retailers. The organisation aims to promote independent bathroom showrooms and what they can offer consumers. Also provide a place for retailers and suppliers to discuss the issues surrounding the industry. Membership includes being part of a consumer- facing website that will direct


customers to their local independent. Bathcom will also provide an online forum for UK retailers to connect and swap business advice and ideas. Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, this part of Bathcom was fast-tracked. Mike Nicholls, managing director of Bathcom, has teamed up with former Bristan chairman Gary Lake and Kathy Freeman, who previously worked in a regional role for Tesco, to create the association. They have already received interest from 52 retailers, with


a total of 74 showrooms with £43 million in turnover. The aim is to get 150 retailers to sign up within the fi rst 12 to 18 months of launch. Retailers will be given geographic exclusivity. Nicholls hopes to attract ‘fi rst or second players’ in an area with a turnover of £1 million, although that is fl exible. They must be a bathroom retailer and “have a comprehensive bathroom offering” of 75% of turnover. Retailers are still eligible that also sell kitchens, bathrooms and tiles.


Former Ideal Standard boss moves to Bathroom Brands APRIL 21


STEPHEN EWER, the former managing director at Ideal Standard, is the new CEO at Bathroom Brands Group. Ewer (pictured) became UK MD of Ideal Standard in September 2017 and the appointment of its new managing director David Barber was formally announced last week (for more on this, see the story below). Rene Maan held the CEO role at Bathrooms Brands from April 2017 to December 2018 and there has been no formal replacement until now. Bathroom Brands said Ewer’s time at Ideal Standard saw him develop


Suppliers’ credit insurance hindering support for struggling retailers


MAY 7 UPHEAVAL IN the credit insur- ance sector is making life diffi cult for suppliers who want to support retailers asking for more time to pay their bills, according to Amdea chief executive Paul Hide. The Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances (Amdea), represents the vast majority of appliance brands in the UK. Speaking in a kbbreview podcast, Hide said that suppliers understood


how diffi cult it was for retailers to trade their way out of this crisis if they can’t order products.


“These retailers are fi ghting for their


survival under enormous pressure and they’re not quite sure where their next pay cheque is coming from,” he said. “But this is not suppliers trying to be awkward, this is suppliers in similar, and diffi cult, situations trying to work out how to manage their own risks.” Many that supply kitchen specialists have seen drops up to 90%.


Supply chain has responsibility to keep industry liquid says Ideal Standard boss


MAY 25 DAVID BARBER (pic -


tured), the new UK managing director of Ideal Standard, says every link in the supply chain must do all it can to keep the industry moving. In a kbbreview pod - cast, Barber said that it is


not simply the case that suppliers should fi nancially support retailers. “We have a responsibility to the supply chain, but that responsibility


6


goes both ways,” he said. “Everyone in the supply chain has the respon- sibility to each other to make sure that our supply chain comes through this together. “Everyone in that chain has its own challenges. We need to look at each of these on their individual


merit and where we can assist we will. But we also have our own bills to pay and we also look to our customers to pay their bills where they can.”


and grow the business in the UK and internationally. He will work alongside former Ideal Standard European vice-


president Roger Cooper who joined Bathroom Brands in 2012 as a non-executive director. He is now chairman of the company. “I’m very excited to be joining the Bathroom Brands Group,” Ewer said. “The business is well positioned to navigate the current crisis and emerge prepared to embrace both the challenges and opportunities that will face the industry.” Bathroom Brands founder Patrick Riley said: “We are delighted to welcome Stephen as our new CEO. He will bring new energy and focus on strengthening our posi tion as a market leader.”


EXCLUSIVE: Most consumers will carry on with KBB projects, kbbreview survey reveals MAY 28


CONSUMERS DO want to carry on with the kitchen and bathroom projects they had planned before they went into lockdown, according to a major survey commissioned by kbbreview publisher Taylist Media. The survey, conducted by research company Trend Monitor, asked more than 1,000 ABC1 homeowners about their thoughts on KBB projects. Of those who were already planning a new kitchen or bathroom, 80% said they had put the project on hold because of lockdown. But just over half of these (56%) said it was mainly down to the supplier or contractor being unable to do it or get hold of the required products.


This is compared with 30% who said the brakes had been applied because of their own fi nancial concerns, and 14% who said it was because the household was self- isolating. Only 7% of projects were cancelled altogether.


The good news is that almost one-in-fi ve projects currently on hold will be restarting as soon as possible, with a further 31% planning to restart when restrictions are lifted. Only 3% think it is unlikely their project will go


ahead within the next 12 months. “The results are very encouraging for the KBB industry and although there is consumer caution especially where there has been a reduction in the household income, it would appear homeowners are keen for their kitchen and bathroom projects to recommence as soon as reasonably possible” said Jane Blakeborough, research director at Trend Monitor.


Although smaller projects, such as replacing the toilet and basin in the downstairs


cloakroom (22%) or


replacing the kitchen worktops (18%), were in the top three projects to undertake, replacing the main bathroom was also high on respondents’


lists (21%) replacing the kitchen (16%). · September 2020 as was


LOCKDOWN NEWS ROUND-UP


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