The kbbreview Podcast

The products you choose to display - and how you display them - are vital parts of any kitchen studio but how do you make sure you choose the right ones? More importantly, how do you sign off on the best terms with the suppliers?  What makes a good display deal? What are the red flags that make you walk away? How much space should the brand reasonably expect? And, perhaps most relevant right now,...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast. This is the 17th of the final of season four.  This episode is coming to you live(ish) from Clerkenwell Design Week.  Your regular host, Andy Davies, has given the podcast over to kbbreview’s deputy editor Vicki Evans as she runs in and out of the bathroom showrooms in Clerkenwell, London. During her visits to four showrooms - Rak Ceramics, Duravit, Hansgrohe and...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, your host is Andy Davies and this is episode 16 of season four. This really interesting episode is about all about a word that paradoxically manages to be one of the most frequently used in this industry without anyone knowing what it really means. Or, more precisely, everyone has their own interpretation and definition of what it means which therefore allows it t...

Welcome to episode 14 of season four of The kbbreview Podcast, your host as always is Andy Davies. Great episode this week as we look beyond the kitchen and bathroom industry to a couple of big external factors that heavily influence it.  Firstly we’re delving into what’s going on in the retail market with top consultant Ian Scott and then we’re unlocking the front door of the property and mortgag...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, your host as always is Andy Davies and this is episode 14 of season four. And what a story we have for you today.  A few weeks ago on April 22, 2022, at Bristol Crown Court, Michael Black was sentenced to over ten years in prison for defrauding over £1 million from independent retailer Bathroom Village while working as its financial controller.  He siphoned money...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, your host as always is Andy Davies and this episode 12 of Season Four. This week, we’re getting down to some nitty gritty and looking at that most fundamental part of retailing – running a sale or promotion. When do you do it? How do you do it? What gets the best results? How do you plan it? All this and everything in between is discussed in this step-by-step guid...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, this is episode 12 of season 4 and your host as always is Andy Davies. This week we’re talking about noise - more precisely the noise that all the stuff in your house, and of course your client’s houses, make. Beeping dishwashers, spinning washing machines, humming fridges, flushing toilets, boilers firing up, extractors …extracting. The background noise of our ho...

Welcome to the kbbreview podcast, your host is Andy Davies and this is episode 11 of season four. This week’s show is all about changes in EU competition law....no, don’t touch that button, I promise it’s worth it because it deals with a subject that has been winding up kbb retailers for years – the price of stuff on the internet. The law is changing – and it will be adopted in the UK too – to mea...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast,  your host as always is Andy Davies and this is episode 10 of Season 4 . It’s a really interesting episode this week too  as we discuss a subject that I’m sure many busy kitchen and bathroom retailers have somewhere in their minds at the moment – should I, or shouldn’t I expand the business? Bigger premises, new location, expand your offering – it’s all so temptin...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, this is episode nine of season four and your host as always is Andy Davies. We’re back after a bit of a post-kbb show break and we’re kicking off with a really relevant and timely topic -  how are retailers coping with the across-the-board price rises hitting the industry? That means products of course, but also fuel, utilities and everything else. And this leave...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, this is episode 8 of season 4 in old money, but all the cool kids are calling it the second of our two special episodes from kbb Birmingham 2022. Your host is Andy Davies and  we're  carrying on with the themes of the show which  are the importance of getting back face-to-face, leading player's current views on the market and where it might go in the future and, o...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast,  this is the first of two special episodes of the show coming to you live from the NEC and kbb Birmingham 2022. Your host as always is Andy Davies and we're looking at the state of the market, supply chain issues, and whether you can possibly predict or forecast what happens next. In this episode we have Jim McEwan from Haier , Rashpal Sidhu from Roca , Jonathan H...

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast,  this is episode 6 of season 4 and your host as always is Andy Davies. This time we’re challenging a bit of classic retail gospel – is the customer really always right? In particular we’re looking at that in terms of kitchen and bathroom design, as long as it’s safe and complies with all the regs, can the client have whatever they want regardless of how much advic...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, you’re listening to Episode Five of Season Four and your host as always is Andy Davies. A New Year always gives us a great excuse to talk about predictions and trends for the 12 months ahead and beyond. So, given everything that has happened with lockdowns and covid how are consumers viewing their homes and what they need from them? What are the overarching trends...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, this is episode four of season four and your host as always is Andrew Davies. It’s a cracking episode all about the future of installation in this industry. We’ve talked about the massive issues retailers have with finding good fitters many times on this podcast but it’s not going away any time soon.  With no short term solution, we have to look at ways to make su...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, this is episode three of season four and your host as always is kbbreview managing editor Andrew Davies. One of the things that’s great about doing this podcast is getting to speak to fantastic retailers about how and why they do what they do. And that is never more true than when we’re talking to finalists in the kbbreview Retail & Design Awards . We’re now just...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, this is episode two of Season Four. Today we’re going to look at a couple of opportunities for retailers, or at least things that should be if the way to crack them can only be found. First up we’re talking about the small builder market, and that’s not big contracts or developers, we mean the builders that will do the extensions and the relatively small refurbish...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, we’re back and this is episode one of Season 4. We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  If you heard the last episode of season three you’ll know that this is actually a double milestone – not only is it the beginning of season 4 it’s also our 100th episode overall so we’re kicking off with am absolutely fascinating discussion about that...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, this is episode 23 of Season Three and your host as always is Andy Davies. Really interesting episode this week as we delve into a couple of very different issues that have one thing in common – they are both incredibly important factors that will shape this industry for the next decade First up we’re talking the environment and with the whole world focussed on Gl...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, my name is Andy Davies and you’re listening to episode 22 of Season 3. This week we’re talking about high demand – most people are experiencing it thanks to the boom for home renovation that kicked off during the lockdowns and now beyond. And there’s no question that demand has shielded this industry from the turmoil experienced by so many other sectors But, the b...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, this is episode 21 of Season Three and your host as always is Andy Davies. We’ve got a really interesting episode for you this week as we look into how kitchens can help people live better lives. The idea that your kitchen can improve your quality of life may sound a bit fanciful, but actually the kitchen is becoming the central hub that plays a massive part in ho...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, your host as always is Andy Davies and this is episode 20 of season three. We’re rounding up our coverage of the kbbreview Retail & Design Awards 2021 this week with the full version of the interview with Keith Myers that you might have heard an excerpt from a couple of episodes ago. Keith is, of course, from our Kitchen Retailer of the Year 2021, The Myers Touch...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, your host as always is Andy Davies and this is episode 19 of Season 3. We've literally got a very special interview for you this time around as we talk to the recipient of this year’s Special Achievement Award Johnny Grey. We handed him the trophy at the kbbreview Retail & Design Awards up in Liverpool a couple of weeks ago so we thought we’d dust off this intervi...

It's a very special episode all about the kbbreview Retail & Design Awards 2021. We hear from the Liverpool Cathedral ceremony itself, including all the winner reveals as well as some key interviews with winners Keith Myers, Steven Pepper, Carl Terlecki and David Hall. And we're afraid you can't avoid a bit of Andy's speech either. It's a big bumper episode so sit back and enjoy! You can see all t...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, your host is Andy Davies and this is episode 17 of Season 3. We’re jumping head first into the still very difficult and complicated issue of supply and the very real problems many retailers are continuing to experience just getting the stuff they need. In fact, in a very rough kbbreview poll, 54% of retailers said the problem was getting worse as time went on. It’...