INDUSTRY UPDATE
Franke celebrates award success with multiple wins at 2023 Red Dot Design Awards and iF Design Awards
Franke Home Solutions has had success at two of the most important international design competitions, gaining two accolades at the Red Dot Design Awards 2023 and three at the iF Design Awards 2023.
Both competitions celebrate excellence in product design and recognise companies that push the boundaries of
innovation and design. At the Red Dot
Design Awards 2023, Franke was honoured for its matt black Icon Semi-Pro tap and Mythos Masterpiece Collection of premium coloured metallic sinks featuring Franke’s exclusive F-Inox Technology for longlasting durability. Products were judged on their innovation, functionality, aesthetic quality, impact, emotional content and ability to launch in the next 12 months, with only the very best picking up awards.
Doing the double, Franke’s Mythos Masterpiece Collection also won at the iF Design Awards 2023 alongside the All-In food preparation system and Kubus 2 matt black sink with integrated accessory shelf and Active Twist tap.
Lauren Gifford joins Franke as National account manager
Franke has boosted its sales team with the appointment of Lauren Gifford as its new National Account Manager. Lauren has extensive experience having worked in sales and account management for 18 years across a variety of sectors including DIY, housewares and the bed and mattress industry. She joins Franke from the Sealy Group where she was its National Account Manager for six years. In her new role, Lauren will work closely with Franke’s national retail partners to support the established
relationships that they have with the company and further develop its client base. She will also focus on enhancing the customer ranges to ensure they offer a comprehensive mix of products that exceeds retailer expectations and cements Franke’s market-leading position.
Lauren says: “I’m thrilled to be joining Franke at such an exciting time, and I’m looking forward to working closely with our valued retail partners and building upon the strong, long-standing relationships we have with them.” Chris Gallagher, Sales Director Key Accounts & Projects at Franke, says: “We’re delighted to welcome Lauren to the Franke team. She brings a wealth of experience to her new position as National Account Manager, making her perfectly placed to manage our retail channel. Her drive, determination and enthusiasm will make her a real asset to the business as she looks to nurture and strengthen our relationships with our retail partners.”
BiKBBI – Building a sustainable future workforce: It’s time to stand up and be counted
F
ollowing the recent launch of the BiKBBI Education Steering Committee (ESC), in June I attended the very first committee meeting to brief the board members on the sorry state that the industry finds itself in when it comes to education.
As the only government-sanctioned organisation dedicated to kitchen, bedroom and bathroom installation, for almost two decades we have represented thousands of installation businesses and installers nationwide and established and nurtured relationships with a wide network of manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, retailers and other stakeholders within the KBB industry. We have a pretty good steer on the challenges facing the sector but cannot engineer the solutions single-handedly – this needs to come from the industry, with the insight and guidance of the BiKBBI ESC. The ESC will facilitate debate on important issues facing the sector, define areas of focus in line with industry needs, identify goals and objectives and provide an effective forum for decision-making, and will primarily concentrate on apprenticeships, CPD and retraining. In recent years, BiKBBI has focused on apprenticeships, and rightly so. Without serious attention and investment to bring young people into our industry, the medium term looks bleak and the long-term will almost certainly result in failure. There is now a fit-for- purpose apprenticeship in place and a strong interest from school and college leavers to join the sector – it’s now down to the industry to take ownership of the challenge and responsibility for the solution by creating opportunities for these young people. What does this actually mean?
Archie, KBB Installer Apprentice, ACE Electrical & Plumbing
If you are an installation business with growth aspirations or retirement plans, you might have dismissed an apprentice before based on misconceptions or dated views – but a modern apprenticeship can add significant value to your business and, with the support packages that BiKBBI has in place, it could become a very viable solution.
Manufacturers, retailers and suppliers may think that there is little they can do because they don’t employ an installation workforce directly, but there is much they can do to support the cause and make a difference. Ultimately, how we handle the current skills gap will impact all areas of the industry and therefore we must all do our bit. Those that don’t employ installers will have a far-reaching network of contacts that will either directly or indirectly engage with the installation community – we need you to use your network to educate and change perceptions of apprenticeships amongst installers.
But apprenticeships are not the only area of focus for BiKBBI or indeed the ESC. With an aging workforce and declining numbers of compliant installation specialists, our industry needs to find solutions for the short to medium term too. We believe that a robust CPD programme for the sector and an active resettlement plan, in conjunction with the Ministry of Defence, could hold the key and are therefore also high on the agenda. Once again, every business within the sector should be scrutinising their approach to CPD and considering whether retraining could help not only their business, but the industry as a whole. Perhaps you are already working on a plan for your business? Maybe you have a suggestion you would like to share? You can contact the BiKBBI Education Steering Committee by emailing
steve.adamson@
bikbbi.org.uk .
Damian Walters – CEO, BiKBBI BKU JULY 2023 49
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