The kbbreview Podcast

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, this is Episode Six of Season Ten and this week we've got a very special guest - Johnny Grey. Johnny is, as you probably know, one of the most high profile designers in the kitchen arena and has been for decades. His boundless enthusiasm for design and the role the kitchen has in our lives, in society and in history has led him to not only continue his own eponymo...

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, your host is Andy Davies and this is episode five of season ten. And today's episode is all about choice - To be or not to be? Should I stay or should I go? The hokey cokey... Deciding between one thing and another is hard enough but when customers are buying a new kitchen or bathroom they have thousands of possible options in front of them. But can you have too m...

Welcome to the kbbreview podcast, your host is Andy Davies and this is episode four of season five. So how's business with you at the moment? That's a hard question to answer isn't it? There are so many variables and uncertainties that being definitive and forecasting even a short way into the future is really, really tricky. A couple of episodes ago, we were at the KBSA Conference asking retailer...

Welcome to another special BONUS episode of The kbbreview Podcast all about The kbbreview Retail & Design Awards 2024. We're running this special series between now and the big awards event in March and it's all courtesy of our 2024 Awards Podcast Partner - Sonas Bathrooms. In this episode we'll be meeting two of our big winners from the 2023 awards - held back in April in the great city of Ca...

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, your host is Andy Davies as always. This week we're looking at something really interesting that's been around for quite a long time but hasn't really managed to get much traction with retailers - and that's the Water Label. In a nutshell, it's the water efficiency equivalent of the energy ratings label that all appliances have to display. It's a scheme that's bee...

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast where your host is, as always, Andy Davies, Today's episode is a really, really interesting discussion between some top retailers recorded at the recent KBSA Conference. It was billed as The Big Debate and it did cover several topics but here we're going to concentrate on two: Firstly, is the inclusive/multi-generational market viable for independent kbb retailers?...

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, your host is Andy Davies it's a brand new season - and would you believe we're at Season Ten. In this episode, we're asking a very simple but very relevant question - how's business? There's no doubt that the market is uncertain, unpredictable and unwilling to play nicely so that very straightforward question has lots of different possible answers depending on whe...

Welcome to the kbbreview podcast, and welcome to the first of our official bonus episodes all about The kbbreview Retail & Design Awards 2024 . That's right, the biggest and longest-running awards event in the UK kitchen and bathroom industry is back and in 2024 we're celebrating an amazing 30 years.  A few weeks ago  we did an episode announcing that entries were open and giving a whole heap of t...

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, your host is Andy Davies and this episode is officially episode ten of season nine.  That means it's the last full episode of the season and what a series it has been - we've talked about resolving disputes,, packaging, apprentices, Howdens, installers, recruitment, the state of the market and much, much more.  If you haven't heard them all - and your reason for n...

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast and welcome back to the second part of our special series in association with Cyncly . In part one a few weeks ago, we met designers  Hugo Castro from Wilson Bathrooms in Glasgow and Manish Hirani from Moiety Kitchens in London and we started our look at how they use Cyncly products such as Virtual Worlds and Winner to take their customer through a journey.  Here's...

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, this is Episode 9 of Season 9 and Iyour host as always is Andy Davies. It's our penultimate show of the season and it's a real state-of-the-industry one today as we look at an area that is a real bellwether for how we're all doing - and that's recruitment. Redundancies and job losses are always an indicator of a significant downturn, however the paradox is that th...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, your host is Andy Davies and this is another very special bonus episode of the show where we get to meet some of the industry's leading suppliers and really get under the skin of what makes them tick. Today it's a great one as we talk to leading distributor Lawcris about a subject that is shaping, guiding and creating the business now and into the future - and tha...

Welcome to episode eight of season nine of The kbbreview Podcast, your host is Andy Davies and today we're talking about installers again. A couple of weeks ago we did a really interesting episode looking at new research into the influence they have over the consumer. There was a LOT of interest in that one so today we're looking at how kbb retailers actually deal with installers. Which is better,...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, your host as always is Andy Davies and this is another very special bonus episode where we get under the skin of the industry's most interesting suppliers. Today is all about Wharf - the solid surface supplier that's the brainchild of two old school friends who once mucked around in class, but together now run a very successful and innovative company - while still...

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, your host is Andy Davies and this is episode seven of season nine.  But as much as we all like knowing the reference number, this episode is all about something much more momentous - entries are open for the kbbreview Retail & Design Awards 2024 . Entries opened on September the 1st for the biggest awards in the UK and Ireland kitchen and bathroom sector and after...

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, this is Episode Six of Season Nine and today we're looking at influencers. No, don't worry, we don't mean people who used to be on Love Island, we mean the people that have a massive influence on not only the products that go into new bathrooms, but also who consumers are buying those products from. And that's installers.   It's not news that installers have a big...

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast and this very special bonus episode where we're bringing you more from our friends at Cyncly .  In the last Cyncly episode we looked at the story behind the mergers of Compusoft, 2020 and then Virtual Worlds that make Cyncly the portfolio of essential CAD and business management software products for the kitchen and bathroom retail industry here in the UK. So we've...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, this is Episode Five of Season Nine and we're talking apprenticeships today. There's been a lot of noise around the need to have more apprentices and how it's a massive part of plugging the major skills gap in the installation part of the KBB sector - something that's only going to get worse if we don't find that new blood. But apprenticeships are now a major voca...

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, this is Episode Four of Season Nine and it's being delivered to you all wrapped up in a cardboard box of information stuffed with the plastic air pillows of relevance. That's because we're talking about packaging today. Every single kitchen or bathroom project you do generates loads of waste as you take every component out of its wrapping. Most of you will probabl...

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, your host as always is Andy Davies and for anyone who says he's not then we demand compensation or we'll see you in court! Yes, this week we're talking all about dispute resolution or, in layman's terms, what you do when you have a disagreement with a customer and shouting rude things about their mother to them through their letterbox just doesn't seem to be helpi...

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast - this is Episode Two of Season Nine and your host Andy Davies. It's a  really, really interesting one today as we get a peak behind the curtain at the company that sells more kitchens than anyone else in the UK by a mighty margin - Howdens. Last week saw the release of its half-year results for the six months up to the end of June and this was accompanied by an on...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, this is a very special bonus episode of the show where we get to introduce you to our friends at Hanex UK . Hanex is, of course, the solid surface from global manufacturing giant Hyundai. And, here, its official distributor is Hanex UK . Based in Southampton, they work with fabricators, architects, interior designers and, of course, kitchen and bathroom retailers...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, your host is Andy Davies and we're back with a brand new season.  That's right, we're heading into the summer with another bumper crop of episodes that we're going to unimaginatively call Season Nine. And what a guest to kick it all off with - we're talking to a proper KBB legend - Roger Cooper. As of the end of June, he's finally retired, closing the book on a 53...

Welcome to the kbbreview Podcast, your host as always is Andy Davies and this is Episode 10 of Season 8 - that makes it the last episode of this season but don't worry,  we'll be back towards the end of July with Season Nine. And for this triumphant finale we're going to celebrate by talking about something thoroughly depressing - mortgages. Let's be honest, interest rates are going up and up and...

Hello and welcome to this very special bonus episode of The kbbreview Podcast brought to you with the help of our very good friends at Cyncly . As you know, Cyncly is the name of the company that came out of the merger between the two software giants of Compusoft and 2020. It now also includes Virtual Worlds in that suite of products as well as EQ and Winner of course. That means there is every ch...