The kbbreview Podcast

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, your host is Andy Davies, and this is Episode 5 of Season 11. 

This is a great episdoe as we've got a topic today that will dazzle all your senses.

That's because it's all about, well, dazzling all the senses.

It's obvious that your showroom needs to look great, but do you ever think about how it smells, how it sounds or how it feels? Does your showroom engage all of your customer's senses? 

There is a huge amount of psychological research confirming that appealing to all the senses can make customers more inclined to purchase in retail environments. Using scent, music, tactile displays and lighting can create a much more immersive and engaging experience.

We love all this kind of stuff so we're so pleased that our guest today is Charles Spence - he is a professor of experimental psychology at the Crossmodal Research Laboratory at Oxford University.

And if you find all this as intersting as we do, check out Charles' book Sensehacking: How to Use the Power of Your Senses for Happier, Healthier Living

This very special episode is brought to you with the support of our good friends at kbb Birmingham 2024, Europe's prime hub for the kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom industries.

The ultimate showcase of innovation is now only days away - it starts on Sunday, March the 3rd at the NEC Birmingham and runs to Wednesday the 6th

Meet key clients, engage with trendsetters, explore the newest launches and dive into live demonstrations - you'll gain valuable insights that'll drive your business forward at kbb Birmingham 2024.

You can register for your free visitor pass now at kbb.co.uk. See you there!

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Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast and another of our special bonus episodes all about the kbbreview Retail & Design Awards 2024.

And this is the last one of these we'll be doing before the event itself. This is coming out on Wednesday, February 28 which the means the awards is on Monday. 

All very exciting indeed and what better way to round off this countdown to the ceremony than by talking to two of our finalists.

From our design shortlist we have Justine Bullock from The Tap End near Cardiff and from the retail shortlist we have Steph Warner from Pier1 Bathrooms in Hove.

They're both deserving finalists of course, but they share another really interesting characteristic in that both their retail businesses are all-female teams - so we'll be hearing from them about why they enter awards, what it means to find out you're a finalist AND we'll be asking them for their assessment of the market right now.

These special bonus awards episodes of The kbbreview Podcast are brought to you with the help of our friends Sonas Bathrooms - our 2024 Awards Podcast Partner.

They're a hugely successful company in Ireland and now they're here in the UK with their stylish and high-quality range of products. You can find out more about becoming a Sonas Bathroom retailer by going to sonasbathrooms.co.uk or, seeing as there's only a few days until it starts, you can also go and see them in person at kbb Birmingham on stand F30.

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Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast and another very special bonus episode as we're talking to Stephen Ewer, the CEO of Bathroom Brands.

Always great to talk to him and we'll be getting his view on the health of the market, the biggest factors affecting its growth and, more specifically, what plans and strategies Bathrooms Brands to get the most out of 2024.

It's a proper insight into the  mind of one of the UK sector's leading figures, so don't miss it!

Yes, this episode is brought to you by our good friends at Bathroom Brands. They are, of course, a hugely successful and well-known designer, importer and supplier of bathroom and sanitary ware products across its suite of established brands - Crosswater, Burlington, Clearwater and Britton. You can find out all about them at bathroombrands.com.

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Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, your host is Andy Davies and we're keeping the pre-KBB Show podcast bonanza coming with this - the100% official Episode Four of Season Eleven.

And we've got a great guest on today talking about a subject that is so important, so relevant and so interesting that we really should discuss it more - and that's how retailers can be more sustainable.

That's both in the way they run their business AND how they can make sustainability a genuine and effective part of their sales story rather than something to sidestep and not bring up if the client doesn't. Just by learning about the details of your suppliers and products could you weave it into your narrative and boost the on thing that's more valuable to you than anything - your reputation.

So I'll be talking to Steve Lister, a consultant, advocate and all round expert on sustainable retail for both retailers and their suppliers and it's sooo interesting. You can find out all about him at stevelister.com

But first…

This very special episode is brought to you with the support of our good friends at kbb Birmingham 2024, Europe's prime hub for the kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom industries.

So get ready for the ultimate showcase of innovation! 

Held at the NEC Birmingham from March 3rd to 6th, this exhibition features 250+ top European brands across 26 diverse categories, unveiling cutting-edge designs and the latest innovations.

With over 15,000 decision-makers attending from residential, design, retail, and contract sectors, it's the prime spot for networking, sourcing and business growth. Expect renowned brands like Caple, Franke, VitrA, BORA and many more to showcase everything from furniture to components, giving you a glimpse of the future in KBB.

Meet key clients, engage with trendsetters, and explore the newest launches. Dive into live demonstrations and gain valuable insights that'll drive your business forward at kbb Birmingham 2024

You can register for your free visitor pass now at kbb.co.uk. 

See you there!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to another special episode of The kbbreview Podcast all about the kbbreview Retail & Design Awards 2024.

We're counting down to the big event itself on Monday, March the 4th with these special shows and after last week's conversation with some of our design category judges, today we're talking to a couple of our business category judges. 

What makes them tick, what are they looking for, why is it so important to visit the finalists in person and what do they get out of the experience?

We have a couple of very experienced and successful retailers in the shape of Darren Taylor from Searle and Taylor and Mike Lloyd from Inspired Bathrooms & Kitchens.

These special bonus awards episodes of The kbbreview Podcast are brought to you with the help of our friends Sonas Bathrooms - our 2024 Awards Podcast Partner.

They're a hugely successful company in Ireland and now they're here in the UK with their stylish and high-quality range of products. You can find out more about becoming a Sonas Bathroom retailer by going to sonasbathrooms.co.uk or you can go and see them in person at kbb Birmingham on stand F30.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to another special bonus episode of The kbreview Podcast and today we're getting a bit of a sneak preview of one of the most high-profile exhibitors at kbb Birmingham in a couple of weeks time.

And that's Cyncly.

Now Cyncly may be a new name to the kbb Birmingham exhibition halls but the latest versions of the products it is showing have been essential tools for kitchen and bathroom retailers and designers for a reassuringly long time.

Cyncly is now the home of brands such as Winner Flex, Virtual Worlds, EQ Flex and Spaces Flex, following a recent series of acquisitions and mergers. That means that, for the thousands of designers and retailers that interact with them every day, any new developments,interfaces or add-ons are eagerly awaited.

For an inside look at how Cyncly is approaching the event, we caught up with sales director Dean Smith and director for enterprise accounts Ben Roberts…

But, before we meet them, make a note - Cyncly will be on Stand L70 at kbb Birmingham from March 3-6 - for more information go to cyncly.com.

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Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast and this very special bonus episode. It's a great one for anyone interested in the latest trends and products in kitchen, bedroom and bathroom design as we'll be talking to Aimee Fletcher - the  Decor and Product Manager for Egger.

We're going to find out all about her new ranges, how she gets her inspiration and ideas and how that translates into products you designers can specify in your projects. It's really interesting stuff so essential for designers across the sector.

Yes, this special episode is brought to you with our friends at EGGER UK. They are, of course, a global manufacturer of wood-based materials and products used across the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom sector. Their new Decorative Collection 24+ is available now and you can hear all about it in this podcast and find out more at egger.com

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Welcome to The kbbreview podcast, your host is Andy Davies and this is Episode Three of Season 11 and today we're revisiting one of the biggest topics in this industry and that's installation and apprenticeships.

It's a complicated subject and that can often switch people off but, as we'll hear today, the ageing workforce could see half of installers retiring in the next five years AND, in 2023, less than 100 direct kbb installation apprentices were taken on.

That maths is not difficult to understand even for us.

The annual conference for the British Institute of KBB Installation - or BiKBBI - was held a couple of weeks ago in London. We've featured this event on this podcast before but it's always a rel snapshot of where the debate has moved - if at all - and what activity is being done to address it.

So today we'll hear a little bit from BiKBBI CEO Damian Walters for his assessment and then we're going to dip into a panel discussion about apprentices which has some real nuggets in there for all kbb retailers.

This very special episode is brought to you with the support of our good friends at kbb Birmingham 2024, Europe's prime hub for the kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom industries.

So get ready for the ultimate showcase of innovation! 

Held at the NEC Birmingham from March 3rd to 6th, this exhibition features 250+ top European brands across 26 diverse categories, unveiling cutting-edge designs and the latest innovations.

With over 15,000 decision-makers attending from residential, design, retail, and contract sectors, it's the prime spot for networking, sourcing and business growth.

 Expect renowned brands like Caple, Franke, VitrA, BORA and many more to showcase everything from furniture to components, giving you a glimpse of the future in KBB.

Meet key clients, engage with trendsetters, and explore the newest launches. Dive into live demonstrations and gain valuable insights that'll drive your business forward at kbb Birmingham 2024

You can register for your free visitor pass now at kbb.co.uk.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to another very special episode of The kbbreview Podcast all about The kbbreview Retail & Design Award 2024! 

Your host is Andy Davies and give or take a day or so we are just three weeks away from the big ceremony on Monday, March the 4th in Birmingham. We're as excited as we are absolutely terrified as we'll be welcoming about 900 of the industry's top designers, retailers, suppliers, opinion-formers and influencers for the biggest night of the year.

All the judging complete and we now have the full list of winners in front of me and I promise it's going to be a good one.

In this awards episode we're going to take another look into the minds of our design judges to see what they thought of this year's entries, what themes they spotted and how much they get out of the prices themselves.

The process itself is really important and it works like this - designers submit their written entries and the judges go through every single and score them independently against the list of criteria. I add up all the scores and the top four in each category become the shortlist.

But it doesn't stop there and that's the big difference of our awards - we have two further judging sessions. We have two panels - one for kitchen and one for bathroom - and we put them in a room and all the shortlisted finalists then present their projects to them in person via Zoom. This is where the judges get to quiz and question the designer on all the details.

So Andy ran the bathroom panel at the Roca Gallery in Chelsea Harbour and his esteemed colleague and kbbreview editor Rebecca Nottingham ran the kitchen panel at Halcyon Interiors in Wigmore Street.

Once all the presentations were over we grabbed some of the judges for a post-match chat...

These special bonus awards episodes of The kbbreview Podcast are brought to you with the help of our friends Sonas Bathrooms - our 2024 Awards Podcast Partner.

They're a hugely successful company over in Ireland andnow they're here in the UK with their stylish and high-quality range of products. You can find out more about becoming a Sonas Bathroom retailer by going to sonasbathrooms.com or you can go and see them in person at kbb Birmingham where they will be a must-visit exhibitor. You can find them on stand F30 and say hello from me.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a very special episode of The kbbreview Podcast.

As I'm sure you know kbb Birmingham is fast approaching us at the start of March - it's the biggest UK show dedicated to all things kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms so today we're chatting to the exhibition's sales director Jon Johnston - he'll be telling us why the show has never been more relevant and why it's a must-visit experience for anyone in this sector.

kbb Birmingham 2024 is Europe's prime hub for the kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom industries so get ready for the ultimate showcase of innovation! 

Held at the NEC Birmingham from March 3rd to 6th, the exhibition features 250+ top European brands across 26 diverse categories, unveiling cutting-edge designs and the latest innovations.

With over 15,000 decision-makers attending from residential, design, retail, and contract sectors, it's the prime spot for networking, sourcing and business growth.

Expect renowned brands like Caple, Franke, VitrA, BORA and many more to showcase everything from furniture to components, giving you a glimpse of the future in KBB.

Meet key clients, engage with trendsetters, and explore the newest launches. Dive into live demonstrations and gain valuable insights that'll drive your business forward at kbb Birmingham 2024

And it's not just about innovation; it's about sustainability too! The kbb Birmingham Better Stands initiative is reducing waste and promoting eco-friendly practices among exhibitors and the industry.

Also join your peers in celebrating a decade of excellence at the 2024 kbb Innovation Awards, in partnership with Blum, recognising the groundbreaking solutions in the KBB industry shaping the future.

So we're sure you'l want to be part of this revolutionary event you can register for your free visitor pass now at kbb.co.uk. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.