The kbbreview Podcast

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast and, for those keeping meticulous records this is episode six of season 13.

Your host is Andy Davies, and we're getting all nostalgic in this one as we mark 40 years of kbbreview. Our very own George Dean has been having a chat with a couple of top retailers, who have both been in the game for more than 40 years, to get a view on what the industry was like back then and how it compares to now.

We have Tina Riley from Modern Homes in Leamington Spa and Phil Beechinor from Alexander in Worthing.

We've also got Mark Pearson in there, his day job now is kbbreview's Operations and Events Director - in other words the man behind the kbbreview Retail & Design Awards - but before he joined us he was a very accomplished bathroom retailer, specifically with Porcelanosa, and he started his career over 40 years ago too.

So, if you're fans of how it used to be back in the day, you don't want to miss this one!

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In the second of our very special episodes all about the kbbreview Retail & Design Awards 2025, we catch up with our Podcast Partner Sonas Bathrooms and a pair of their retailers to look at the importance of the supplier-retailer partnership.

Hosted by kbbreview's Matt Baker, our special guests are:

Richard Sloan, the CEO of Sonas Bathrooms

Becky Price from Park Street Interiors in Camberley

and

Dan Tuff from Glenfield Bathrooms in Leicester.

Don't forget that entries are OPEN for the kbbreview Retail & Design Awards 2025. It's totally FREE to enter and if you're a kitchen or bathroom designer, retailer, supplier or installer, we have categories for you. The closing date is Novermber 14th and you can find out everything you need to know at kbbreview.com/awards or in our special awards podcast episode.

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Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, and this is the final episode of our special three-part series we're calling 'Changemakers'.

It's all in association with our very good friends at Hettich and together we're meeting people or companies that are truly forging their own path in the UK kitchen and bathroom sector. They're shaping opinions, trends and business practices in a way that genuinely shifts the industry zeitgeist.

Your hosts in this series are, once again, kbbreview's Andy Davies and Hettich UK managing director Simeon Gabriel. 

This week we're meeting Richard Hagan from Crystal Doors - on the surface they're a manufacturer of vinyl wrapped doors but under Richard's guidance they're so much more than that. He is a true champion of sustainable manufacturing, and his relatively modest company based in Rochdale has shown that it is possible for anyone to genuinely have minimal impact on their environment.

He is a proper expert on the mechanics, economics and practical applications needed to do it too, there is nothing conceptual here, and he is a leading player in the business community of Greater Manchester sharing that expertise. No greenwashing here.

He's a fascinating character, an obsessive about the subject and he's been able to turn it into reality in a away that many talk about but few do.

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Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, this is the second episode of our special three-part series we're calling 'Changemakers'.

It's all in association with our very good friends at Hettich and together we're meeting people or companies that are truly forging their own path in the UK kitchen and bathroom sector. They're shaping opinions, trends and business practices in a way that genuinely shifts the industry zeitgeist.

Your hosts are kbbreview's Andy Davies and Hettich UK managing director Simeon Gabriel. 

This week we're meeting Paul Lee and Gordon Robinson from Kutchenhaus. It is, of course, the retail franchise outfit that has managed to grow and grow in a way no other franchise company in this market has been able to do. Owned by German kitchen manufacturing giant Nobilia, it has now managed to reach a size and influence that is shaping market trends and share and leading other companies, notably Magnet, to launch franchise operations of their own.

• How do you become a franchisee?
• What autonomy do they have?
• How does the brand maintain consistency in design, marketing, sales and service?
• Is there a critical mass?

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Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast and this is the first episode of a special three-part series we're calling 'Changemakers'.

It's all in association with our very good friends at Hettich and together we're meeting people or companies that are truly forging their own path in the UK kitchen and bathroom sector. They're shaping opinions, trends and business practices in a way that genuinely shifts the industry zeitgeist.

Your hosts for this series are kbbreview's Andy Davies and Hettich UK managing director Simeon Gabriel. 

Our first Changemaker is a real pioneer in the field of accessible and multi-generational kitchen design - Adam Thomas. A wheelchair-user himself, he has a unique understanding of how kitchens can and should be designed to allow full use by everyone of any ability, age, size or shape. 

He is also very inspirational when it comes to explaining just what a business opportunity this is for retailers and designers.

It's all here in a very special interview that you won't want to miss....

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The kbbreview Retail & Design Awards 2025 are open for entries and this is the first of our special monthly awards podcast bonus episodes. 

We'll be following the whole process between now and the event in April - including exclusively revealing the shortlist of finalists just before Christmas.

In this first episode we get down to basics - what are the awards, who can enter, what are the categories and what are our top tips for doing your entries.

Huge thanks to our Awards Podcast Partner for 2025 Sonas Bathrooms for all their support. You can find out all about becoming a Sonas Bathrooms retailer at sonasbathrooms.co.uk

You can find out everything you need to know about entering the kbbreview Retail & Design Awards 2025, as well as booking tickets for the event, at kbbreview.com/awards

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Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, your host is Andy Davies, this is Episode Two of Season 13 and we've got a great one for you today as we look into the world of distribution with one of the biggest names in the sector - Waterline.

We have a great interview with Michael Marriott, who's the new CEO, and sales director Rob Taylor who's chalked up an astonishing 39 years with the company.

Waterline is, of course, owned by Crown Imperial and Michael is the grandson of the founder, continuing the lineage of the family-run business. His brother Barry Head is the current MD of Crown.

There are huge changes happening with distribution in the KBB industry - with consolidation, buy outs and big names calling in the administrators. Big brands who always relied on distributors are starting to go direct and margins are getting tighter and tighter across the chain.

Against this backdrop, Waterline has just launched its first ever bathroom range - an ambitious move into a very crowded market.

So why have they done it, what do they think about the direction of distribution in general, and how does a new CEO get under the skin of such a well-established company?

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Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, your host is editor-at-large Rebecca Nottingham and this is another of our very special Rising Star episodes where we meet the upcoming superstars of kitchen and bathroom retail.  

Between August 2024 and March 2025 we’ll be picking a monthly Rising Star to feature in the magazine, online and this very podcast. Those eight monthly winners then become the shortlist for the overall winner which will be revealed at the kbbreview Retail & Design Awards 2025 in April.

It's done with the support of our very good friends at Blum and you can find out more about them at Blum.com

You can nominate your rising stars, or indeed nominate yourself, via the awards website kbbreview.com/awards and there are only two rules:

They must be currently employed by a retailer - which we're defining as a company that sells direct to the consumer and they must be under 30 years of age on March the 4th, 2025. 

Other than that, they can perform any job role within your business – admin, design, sales, finance, installation, we don’t mind as long as they’re a star!

So let's meet our Rising Star for September, Georgia Astley. She's the branch manager at Kutchenhaus Lutterworth. At just 22 she's already clocked up experience in installation, design, project management and running a showroom and, as you will hear, she's loving every minute of it...

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Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, your host is Andy Davies and this is Episode One of Season 13.

For this very special episode we're meeting the founder of one of the industry's most enigmatic companies - Paul O'Leary from deVOL.

He and his team have managed to establish the hugely successful deVOL as a true lifestyle brand that, yes, will make you a beautiful traditional kitchen but they do it by inviting you into their world and giving you the warm and uniquely British deVOL experience. It is based in Cotes Mill, a 16th-century water mill set in twelve acres of natural meadows on the banks of the River Soar, just outside Loughborough and this rambling five-storey building and its gardens have since become synonymous with the deVOL brand and featured heavily in its own Emmy-nominated TV show - For The Love Of Kitchens. 

If you haven't seen it we highly recommend seeking it out via the deVOL YouTube channel.

Paul is the embodiment of deVOL and to hear him talk about the philosophy of it and his views on design and his customers is just fascinating as well as just listening to him tell his own personal story, it all makes up an interview that you just don't want to miss….

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Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast and this summer special episode dropping right in the middle of August.

We've got a cracking whole new season starting at the beginning of September but today's episode was just too good, too relevant and too insightful to wait until then.

Now we all know that the market is, at best, flat and, at worst, way below that and that leaves business owners and leaders with a difficult decision - do you hunker down and wait for it to pass, or do you actively attack the market with initiatives designed to spark it into life?

And that's why we're very lucky in this episode to have Stephen Ewer the CEO of one of the biggest UK suppliers in the industry Bathroom Brands. I went over to the always impressive showroom at their HQ in Dartford to talk to Stephen - and a very enlightening conversation it was too.

Bathrooms Brands is, of course, one of the biggest names in the sector, and is therefore always a real bellwether for what's happening. For a company with such a unique relationship with the independent retail sector, its plans and strategies are always worth examining in detail if you get the chance.

And its latest initiatives are more exciting than most as it launches a comprehensive package of products, promotion and price alignments designed with one goal in mind - to actively stimulate the depressed market.

This episode is sponsored by Bathroom Brands and we promise this is a very candid case study of how companies can take a lead and revitalise a market with some clever and creative ideas so we do really recommend this one.

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