The kbbreview Podcast

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, your host is Andy Davies and this is Episode Nine of Season 13. Today we're delving back into the mysteries of the brain with another look at the psychology of you and your clients and, in particular, the effect of unconscious bias on how you view them and they view you. Does the car they drive, the clothes they wear or the haircut they have mean that you form opi...

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, your host is Andy Davies as always and today we're asking the most fundamental and simple question that usually doesn't have an easy answer  - how's business? The market has been really poor for some time - you don't need me to tell you that - but what are the nuances within it, what are the different perspectives on why that might be, what are the positive s...

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, you host today 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 becom...

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, your host is Andy Davies and this is Episode Seven of Season 13. And today we're delving into the world of franchises.  They've been around a long time in this sector, of course, but the accelerated growth of Kutchenhaus in particular has refocused attention on the business model that combines lots of the pros of being an independent retailer with the power o...

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 the...

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...

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...

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...

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 t...

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...

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 i...

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...

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...

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 wit...

Welcome to a new series of episodes brought to you by The kbbreview Podcast. Your host is kbbreview editor-at-large Rebecca Nottingham for these monthly episodes meeting the Rising Stars of the kbb independent retailer sector, brought to you in association with Blum . In this first episode we’re meeting our Rising Star for August, Melissa Halliday from Archispek in East Lothian. But first, let’s e...

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, your host is Andy Davies and this is Episode Eight of Season 12. You may remember that, all the way back in episode two a few weeks ago, we looked at the ever-present stalwart of the kbb showroom - the brochure. You can listen to that one here. This week we're looking at the brochure's ever-present companion on the showroom shelf - the sample. Every showroom has t...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, this is a special bonus episode counting down to one of the biggest events of the year - the InstallerSHOW 2024 . It's from the 25th to the 27th of June, that's Tuesday to Thursday, and thousands of visitors will descend on the NEC in Birmingham to see the latest products, mix with peers and hear the latest advice and debate on some of the biggest issues facing th...

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast and this is PartTWO of a special two-parter reporting from our very first Retail Safari. A Retail Safari is a walking tour of interesting and innovative retail stores and environments and we're taking a group of independent kitchen and bathroom retailers out of this industry and hoping to expand horizons and provoke some new thinking on how to view their customers,...

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast and this is Part ONE of a special two-parter reporting from our very first Retail Safari. A Retail Safari is a walking tour of interesting and innovative retail stores and environments and we're taking a group of independent kitchen and bathroom retailers out of this industry and hoping to expand horizons and provoke some new thinking on how to view their customers...

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, your host is Andy Davies as always and this is episode five of season 12. Today we're looking at a subject that has been completely eye-opening for us It's an issue affecting installers and we confess we had no idea just how big a problem it is until we started looking into it. And that is…tool theft. It's about as base a problem as you can get, the tools of your...

Welcome to a very special bonus episode of the kbbreview Podcast, your host as always is Andy Davies, and today we're looking at one of the areas of kitchen design that doesn't get the recognition it deserves, and that's the panel finishes that make up the furniture. When you actually think about it there's hundreds of colours, textures, grains and patterns all following, and often setting, the tr...

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, your host as always is Andy Davies and this week it's Part Two of our How to be a Successful Retailer two-parter. Andy has been catching up with winners from this year's kbbreview Retail & Design Awards to pick their brains about running successful and award-winning businesses. Last week was a fascinating conversation between our Special Achievement Award reci...

This is Part One of a two-parter that will conclude next week where we talk to winners from the kbbreview Retail & Design Awards 2024 to get under their skin, hear their stories and see what makes their businesses successful. Next week, we'll be meeting our Kitchen Retailer of the Year - Laings in Inverurie - and our Bathroom Retailer of the Year - Pier1 Bathroom in Hove. Two very different bu...

This week's episode is all about that staple fixture of showrooms and their relationship with the brands they sell - brochures. What do retailers and designers actually use them for? What do they say about the brand? Do suppliers assume they get given out to every potential customer who comes through the door? Are too many simply thrown away and wasted? Should they have prices in them or not? Such...

Today we're looking at that tricky yet often desirable symbol of growth for an independent kbb retailer and that's …..the second showroom. The vast majority of kbb independents operate out of one showroom, but many often seriously think about another. It's an obvious way to expand the business but there are plenty of cons to go with the long list of pros. Finding the right location, spreading your...