talkingshop
Cookshop and Best Housewares Retail Buyer. In the past decade, Trevor Mottram has
evolved with the times. In 2002 it doubled in size when the Woods expanded into the adjacent 1,400sq ft premises to create Mottram’s, which focused on products for serving and presenting food with an emphasis on tabletop or, in Sarah words, ‘the china shop’. And when the opportunity came up to buy
the lease of a much smaller premises in The Pantiles in 2009, they decided the 400sq ft unit would make an ideal adjunct to the business. Called Trevor Mottram’s Kitchen Workshop, the extra space was dedicated to small electricals and range cookers. The lease on that unit has long expired and
on January 31, the pair closed Mottram’s. Why? “Because it saves us £70,000 a year in rates, rent and service charges,” Sarah says. She admits Mottram’s was always a bit of ‘let’s have some fun while we can’. “We probably should have shut it a couple of
years ago, but we didn’t want to,” she says. “Plus, the cookshop made twice as much money as the china shop. It has been a bit of a juggling act over the last few years but I never wanted china to threaten my ability to buy more stock for the cookshop. So closing was the sensible thing to do.” The space will be taken by German luxury
kitchen brand Poggenpohl “and we’re looking forward to that because it will complement us; we’ll certainly be doing some work with them”. Most of the stock that was in Mottram’s has
transferred back into the cookshop. “We’ve lost some lines but not much, because 80% of the stuff in the china shop came out of the cookshop in the first place. So we’re still selling china, placemats, textiles, cutlery, stovetop coffee pots, cafetieres, and barware.” What’s next on the agenda? Expansion, it
seems, may be on the cards again. “We’ll have a year of consolidation, deciding what we’re going to do next, because we have a basement, first floor, second floor and attic. So there is a lot of potential. We’ll see how the market improves.” Other projects include developing the Trevor
Mottram own-brand range, which initially launched in Christmas 2016. Corkscrews, tea towels, oven gloves and aprons will soon be
joined by chopping boards and textiles. The business is proactive on social media
platforms Facebook and Twitter and there are plans for a transactional website too, which should be up and running by the summer - once stock details have been uploaded from the newly-installed epos system. “It’s been a long time coming,” Sarah says,
“and we’d like to thank our friend Gary Gordon [the former joint managing director of Kitchen Kapers cookshop chain] for his help with it.” The site is being set up by Gary’s son-in-law Stuart Churchill, managing director of Springboard Marketing & Communications. Sarah hopes a presence on
Trouva.com,
an online marketplace for bricks-and-mortar independent stores specialising in design-led homeware and fashion, will follow this year too.
Trevor Mottram joint managing directors Sarah and Alan Wood at Wok for 1000: a large-scale cookery workshop held in London’s Borough Market last October. The aim of the initiative, led by School of Wok
founder and celebrity chef Jeremy Pang in collaboration with charity Plan Zeroes, was to raise awareness of food poverty in the capital. More than 200 volunteers took part, producing 1,000 Asian-inspired meals which were then donated to those hungry and in need.
Eva Solo cookware in Trevor Mottram Trevor Mottram is also in the process of
rebranding, with a new logo and new corporate colours, while the store’s interior is set to be refreshed soon with a repaint and new carpets. And in the summer, the retailer is taking a
stand in the shopping village of Pub in the Park: a foodie festival in Tunbridge Wells. Headed up by Michelin-starred celebrity
chef Tom Kerridge, the event runs from July 6 to July 8 in the town’s Dunloran Park and promises ‘local pubs and restaurants serving their most popular dishes, combined with live music, chef demonstrations and shopping’. Meanwhile, the business’ well-established
wedding registry is still going strong and its knife sharpening service is thriving. “We do a massive amount,” says Sarah. Looking forward, she says: “We’ve got loads
on, and a few challenges, but it’s exciting to have some projects on the go. I’m looking forward to it.”
March/April 2018 •
HousewaresLive.net M
TREV OR MOT T RAM inspir
inspiring you to cook M T R E V O R MOT T RAM M AT A GLANCE
Trevor Mottram 33-41 The Pantiles Tunbridge Wells TN2 5TE 01892 538 915
trevormottramltd@gmail.com www.trevormottram.co.uk www.facebook.com/TrevorMottramTW @TrevorMottram TW
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