INDUSTRY NEWS supplied by kbbdaily

KSL SUDBURY KITCHEN INSTALLER BUILDS PROP FOR KATIE PRICE SHOW

Jonathan Flint, a kitchen installer at Suffolkbased kitchen and bathroom designer KSL Sudbury, was recently drafted in to create a “bespoke pink castle” to promote a new ITV programme, Pony Club, starring TV personality Katie Price. According to Flint, when he was contacted by a television company asking whether he could create the prop, he was shocked and thought it was a “wind-up”. However, Flint added that he had built the castle within a few days and took it to the ITV studios for a photo shoot. “It was slightly strange but Katie Price and her family were really nice,” Flint said, pointing out that it was his most unusual request to date. The six-part series will air on TLC in the summer and features Price teaching children – including two of her own – how to ride horses. KSL Sudbury Managing Director Richard Hibbert said: “Jonathan is a valued member of the KSL team and while this might be a slightly different request, we are delighted he has played a big part in helping to launch a television show on ITV.”

HOOVER BECOMES RETRA MEMBER

Appliance manufacturer Hoover has joined the Radio, Electrical and Television Retailers Association – RETRA – as an associate member to “increase its support to independent retailers in the UK”. Hoover has joined around 1,000 other members – including electrical retailers, service engineers and custom installers – in RETRA, which is a trade association for independent electrical retailers and servicing organisations. “By joining RETRA we will be able to increase our awareness within the independent retail sector, while also working with the association to take on board any recommendations that will help improve our offering,” said Hoover Freestanding Division Marketing Director Steve Macdonald. “We are always looking at ways to support independent retailers and becoming an associate member of RETRA is one of several investments we are making to support this important channel,” he added.

PLUMBING AND KITCHEN INSTALLATION COMPANY GOES INTO ADMINISTRATION

West Yorkshire-based plumbing company V&T (Plumbing, Central-Heating & Bathrooms) Ltd, which traded as Aqua Interiors, has gone into administration, with Howard Smith and Jonny Marston of KPMG appointed administrators of the company. KPMG was appointed administrator of V&T on 17th June 2016, citing “cash flow difficulties in recent months” as part of the reason. V&T, trading as Aqua Interiors, was an independent installer of kitchens, bathrooms and central heating systems “predominantly to local authorities, housing associations, local house builders”, according to KPMG. The joint administrators have made 110 redundancies following their appointment, with 17 employees retained in the short term to assist the administrators in winding down remaining projects of the company. According to KPMG, V&T had an annual turnover of around £15m. The administrators will focus on releasing the assets of V&T following appointment, including around £11m of contracts won but not yet commenced, work in progress, a fleet of owned commercial vehicles and three separate pieces of development land in West Yorkshire. “The company had suffered from cash flow difficulties in recent months, and had been unable to reach agreement with HMRC regarding historic tax arrears, which ultimately led to the company entering administration,” said Smith.

MAX-TOP TO BE DISTRIBUTED IN IRELAND

Kitchen and bathroom surface company Max-Top has partnered with Irish kitchen and wardrobe component supplier The Panelling Centre to distribute Max-Top Quartz in Ireland. The Panelling Centre – which is part of the Grafton Group – will distribute Max-Top to kitchen installers and retailers from its branches in Dublin, County Dublin, Limerick, Galway and Cork. “Ireland has been identified as a key market for Max-Top, and since our launch in 2014 we have been eager to provide a reliable source of supply to installers across the country,” said Max-Top Managing Director Stephen Moss. “We are delighted that MaxTop is now available in Ireland, The Panelling Centre is a wellrespected company that has been operating for over 40 years, so it is encouraging to have an experienced and trusted supplier that can talk installers through the features of our worktops,” added Moss.

GROHE CELEBRATES WORK SMARTER TOUR 2016 SUCCESS

Grohe's 2016 Work Smarter Tour for installers, which took place in May, saw 3,100 visitors across the 12 locations it visited across the UK – a marked improvement on the 800 visitors who attended the first Work Smarter Tour. Throughout the two-week tour, Grohe trained 355 installers, according to the company. The tour allowed installers to participate in installation and product training for Grohe products. It also highlighted Grohe's Smart bonus scheme, with 132 installers signing up throughout the tour. “We are delighted with the results of the 2016 Work Smarter Tour,” said Grohe UK Training Manager Michael Gray. “We understand that not all installers are able to take the time out to attend a training session, however through the tour Grohe took the training to them. It was a great opportunity to meet a wide variety of our customers, and we’d like to thank everyone who came along."

The company will use the funding to “increase brand awareness”, it said. “We’re delighted with this investment, which allows us to continue evolving our product and to start stretching our marketing legs,” said Plentific co-founder Cem Savas. “We are driven by making home improvements better value by removing the hassle of back-and-forth phone calls, protecting consumers identity, scheduling, sourcing quotes and payments, so people can focus on getting the work done.”

HOME IMPROVEMENT MARKETPLACE START-UP RAISES £2M

Plentific, a UK start-up that provides a local online directory for finding tradespeople and home professionals, has raised a £2m investment from several 'angel' investors as well as venture capital platform Pi Labs. The start-up offers a home services directory that allows consumers to search for tradespeople and home professionals, including appliance installers, bathroom and kitchen specialists and plumbers. According to Plentific, its platform already lists more than 75,000 professionals across the UK covering 350 services.