p14 BKU-DEC21 BKU Calypso Q&A_bku 04/12/2021 11:50 Page 14


Q&A BKUQ&A Meet the Sponsors


In our final piece featuring the sponsors of the BKU Awards, we’re delighted to hear from Woodstock about the company and their brands Calypso and Veldeau.


Tell us about your company Woodstock is a highly successful family business based in Herefordshire with two established, highly regarded brands, Calypso and Veldeau. We are renowned for providing top quality, bathroom furniture, in an extensive range of modular, fitted and vanity furniture offerings, across a broad colour spectrum, and we do our utmost to ensure our customer service is outstanding.


Why was it important for you to sponsor an award this year? It is more vital than ever for all of us in the kitchen and bathroom sectors, to showcase the incredible talent that exists in our industry and to promote awareness of the success stories that we see every day, despite the impact of Covid.


What lessons do you think can be drawn from the pandemic? How will they inform your plans going forward? The focus has been and must always be, our people and our ability to harness creativity when facing adversity. Ensuring we had and we continue to have motivated, creative people in the right place, maximising on our great stock levels position, to fulfil our customers’ orders and providing outstanding customer service, has paid dividends even in these challenging times. We knew that the “R” word for us during the pandemic was “resilience” and we continue to build that into every strand of our business as we go forward. There is also the need for seamless, customer related operational processes.


As we look back now on the events of the past 18 months, how proud do you feel a) to have come through; and b) to be part of such a resilient sector? Having put very strict Covid measures in place, we at Woodstock are immensely proud that our team has emerged from this challenging time, healthy and motivated, plus the speed of “bounce back” for our company has been awe inspiring. It is also really exciting to be in a sector that is growing exponentially year on year and where there are no signs of this positive trend abating any time soon.


What is the driving factor behind your brand’s success? High stock levels of great quality bathroom furniture afford us the opportunity to work with speed, to give our loyal customers what they need, when they need it, as well as welcoming new or returning customers back to experience our exceptional “Woodstock 101% service levels”. However, our most critical driving force, is our experienced and talented team, who live by our core company values and who work


14 BKU DECEMBER 2021


tirelessly to provide the best quality products and first class service to our customers. Without this great group of people who work collaboratively, with great humour and a genuine inter-team ethos based on being supportive of each other, we would be further back in our evolution of sustaining and growing a highly regarded family business, particularly living through a global pandemic.


Where do you see challenges for your business this year and next? It is safe to say that the pandemic has globally affected all links in the supply chain in all industries. Our key goal will continue to be, to stay ahead of the curve and work on the front foot with our suppliers and customers. We have been working hard to devise and refine our winning formulas and business models in preparedness to deal with the next “force majeure” that could appear on the horizon and indeed the aftermath of the pandemic. We strive to be the best we can be, and we are never complacent. We started the pandemic with high stock levels of our vast range, and we remain in a very strong position, which stands us in good stead to face the future with confidence.


What do you think the big trends will be for 2022? All research points to the market remaining buoyant and Consumers continuing in their quest to improve their Kitchens and Bathrooms. There are many players in this market and as always, those who consistently provide first-class service and quality products, will take the lion share of the market. Social media platforms will continue to inspire and influence consumers and will drive trends towards a family-oriented home that acts as a sanctuary to shield us from the outside


world, which remains difficult to navigate in these unique times. In terms of the colour wheel, dark moodier


colours, such as the graphite greys, dark blues and greens, will continue to dominate in our opinion, whilst the minimalist whites, sky blues and neutral colours will also remain high on discerning Consumers’ wish lists. We also believe there will be a trend towards


nature inspired, earthier, ochre, orange, brown and green shades that will take their place in the spotlight, together with taps engineered in brushed brass, gold, chrome and the ever popular black. Finally, we are seeing more Consumers asking about whether their kitchens and bathrooms have been sustainably sourced or built in an environmentally friendly way. This will be the area to watch as 2022 unfolds and we feel this may gather momentum as we move into 2023 and 2024. All in all, the Kitchen and Bathroom sectors, will remain the industries to be in, as people aim to ameliorate their homes to higher levels of comfort or as an investment for the future.


What are the best things about working in the sector? Whilst the pandemic has been and continues to be devastating to the world at large, the distinct silver lining of people wanting to create a “nest” that works really well for multi- generational family living and wishing to create kitchen and bathrooms that can sell homes quickly in a buyers’ market, is key to underpinning the buoyancy in these markets. These are good times in the world of Kitchens and Bathrooms, despite everything, so working in dynamic and fast-moving markets is exciting, and inspiring consumers to create comfortable and nurturing living spaces is the icing on the cake.


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