Company matters

Offering support for independent kitchen and bathroom firms because your business is our business

Recruitment

How to secure the best talent

The latest research from Remote states that 92% of UK employers have found it difficult to fill job roles in the past year. In fact, almost half (46%) are now open to negotiating salaries to get the right people in place. Creative solutions are key. Of course, take-home pay gets pulses racing, but businesses must offer incentives which will boost quality of life. For the canny employer, the talent shortage is a huge opportunity disguised as a problem – because it focuses attention on creating engaged employees from the get-go.

You heard it here first; the talent shortage is not going away. Years of experience is walking out the door in every trade and while there is a pipeline of new talent coming onstream, there’s no denying we’ve got a skills gap. Added to that, workers are carefully weighing up the pros and cons of staying in their current roles or jumping ship. And guess what? It’s not all about the money – it’s about the complete package. This is true whether you’re looking for the stars of the future or a more experienced professional.

Marketing

Driving enquiries and sales in Q2

My guess is that Q2 2023 will likely be one of the most challenging quarters that KBB retailers have faced for some time. Although talk of the ‘cost of living crisis’ has calmed down somewhat, and most economists suggest that the Bank of England’s rate rises have peaked, it’s still a challenging environment. The postChristmas boost has dissipated, and many people are still putting projects off. Many of the apparent enquiries involve planning permission and builders, meaning installations are months and months away. The result is that there are fewer customers to go around.

Recession bottoming out

On the flip side, signs suggest that the recession (if indeed we’re actually in one) will bottom out through Q2. If you subscribe to that forecast –as I do – then how will you react? Sit things out a little longer and see what happens? Or, ramp up

Complete package

Think about it. Employees need to consider things like travel, fuel costs, childcare and even pet care when changing their working life. In my experience, no one wakes up one day and decides the grass is greener. It’s often a gradual process and it can take a while before an employee starts putting out feelers with a recruiter. Deciding whether to stay or go is stressful enough, so in the battle for talent, my advice for employers is to play a long game. And have a solid game plan.

1Be real: You must be brutally honest about where the skills gaps are in your business. At present the install sector is bearing the brunt of the crisis but unless we inspire more career changers and young people to see your marketing activity now to enjoy riding the wave out of it?

History suggests that businesses reduce their advertising spending when more challenging economic times arrive. But it’s not true for every business. Our experience over the last year is that a sizeable percentage of UK KBB retailers buck this trend. Instead, they’re bold, optimistic and proactive.

Rather than tightening their belts, battening down the hatches and hoping for the best, they often double down on their marketing, aware of two things:

1.There’ll be less competition since many of their competitors will have hit pause on advertising activity.

2.When there are fewer customers, you need to fight harder for every single one, hence the need to advertise.

Next step advice

I expect those businesses to enter Q3 with a spring in their step, having pushed on in Q2 and the benefits across the whole sector including design, retail and contract kitchens and bathrooms we will all suffer. Life can change in a heartbeat. How would you fare if your most important team members left tomorrow? How multi-skilled is your workforce? Which roles bring in the most profit and which ones bring in the most leads? Be forensic, realistic, and brave enough to talk to your staff about where they want to go in your business. It’s easy to assume that someone is happy where they are, but they may relish more variety or be curious about a role in another department.

2Take action: After your fact-finding mission, you may well find you want someone who can pivot between the stockroom and the showroom. Or that you need someone hands on to manage your contracts division. The clearer you are about who you want and what you can offer them the better. Remember we all need to feel important and valued. Getting the word out via LinkedIn, your website, a specialist recruiter, and your professional network is the next step but why not consider going to the next level by enjoyed a greater share of the business out there. You may think, “Sure, you’re a marketer; it’s your job to say all this.” But my response is, “What if I’m right? And what action will you take for your business now if I am?”

Here’s my quick advice on what you should do based on where you’re at: promoting how your business is expanding in the local media and on your own social media? This gives you a great platform to talk about why the KBB industry can be a very lucrative career as we will always want kitchens and bathrooms – as well as outlining the different career paths available. We must all be ambassadors for our industry.

Need leads and enquiries now? Run Google Ads, invest in SEO and promote why people should buy from you using email marketing, leaflets or paid social media ads (Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok).

3Keep moving: Once you have onboarded new team members – don’t rest on your laurels. We all know that client’s expectations are changing in terms of everything from delivery, turnaround, and project management. We must move with the market and if this means focusing on one or two key areas rather than trying to be a jack of all trades so be it. Be honest about what you are delivering and remember that no school leavers or career changers will magically appear at your door unless you try to engage with your local college, national training providers, the careers service and job centre.

EXPERT: Peter Jones

COMPANY: Foyne Jones

BACKGROUND: Peter Jones is founder and managing director at Foyne Jones, a specialist recruitment agency for KBB retail, independent and national merchant and construction sales. He is also the host of The Peter Jones Show podcast, which covers recruitment and industry news and features guests who are leaders in the industry CONTACT: www.rdr.link/KAN034

Meeting of young minds

Illustrator and designer at MHK Home Jennie Hicks and apprentice kitchen fitter at Day True Kasee Warner both travelled different paths to enter the KBB industry. Jennie came from higher education and is now studying a level 3 apprenticeship in Fitted Furniture Design, while Kasee came from a construction apprenticeship background, and is now studying the Level 2 apprenticeship in Fitted Interiors.

that an apprenticeship could be such a rewarding route into a design career. The impression I had was that it was an inferior option to university. This is such a misguided view, which needs to change. There are many benefits over the university route, the most important being that I get to work from the outset and am also earning, rather than building up a debt whilst I learn.”

Comfortable with enquiry levels right now? Allocate more of your budget to developing your brand and awareness – organic and paid social media, lifestyle magazines, signage, and radio. It’s also an excellent time to improve your website. In our industry, new customers are critical – without them, businesses wither and die. This means that undertaking the required activity to ensure you get enough of them is the top priority - regardless of how despondent or optimistic you are about the next quarter.

EXPERT: David Barker

COMPANY: InspireKbb

BACKGROUND: David Barker is managing director of InspireKbb, a sales and marketing consultancy for kitchen and bathroom retailers. Barker has over 25 years’ experience, with his areas of specialism including branding and positioning though offline and online platforms to generate tangible results. His family owned a kitchen and bathroom showroom for 15 years and Barker increased revenue eightfold through sales and marketing techniques.

CONTACT: www.rdr.link/KAN035

Jennie wanted to pursue a creative career in design after having completed a foundation degree in Art and Design and then a BA in Illustration from Lincoln University. Speaking as part of a Simon Acres Group ‘Movers and Shakers’ video, she says: “I am loving my role at MKM and the apprenticeship offers a great mix of practical learning and study, all offered in manageable chunks. It is a great way to learn as I have interaction with clients in a showroom environment alongside the support of the MKM team and my course tutor.”

Kasee explained what attracted him to join the kitchen industry was being able to be creative, problem solve and have a trade where it provides lifeskills: “You learn about plumbing, electricals, carpentry and installation. I think it’s one of the best ways to get into trade. You can learn at the same time as doing the job.”

But there is still a long way to go to reach young people and encourage them to take on an apprenticeship and to join the KBB industry. Jennie states: “I had no idea when I was at school

She continued: “I only found out about the apprenticeship in fitted furniture when I applied for a job with MKM. They support apprenticeships in a number of roles across the business and value the input and fresh ideas that young people can bring. It is a fantastic way to build a career and I would love to see it promoted more to young people at schools and colleges. If they understood the benefits, I am sure that many more would want to take them up.

“It is a career route I would recommend to any young person wanting to work in a design and sales environment. I absolutely love my job and am looking forward to a rewarding and fulfilling career.”

And Kasee is looking to broaden his skills base, learning advanced electrical and plumbing. “My whole ambition is to build a house, get into real estate and maybe flip some houses in the future.”

Watch video interviews with Jennie Hicks of MKM Home at www.rdr.link/KAN036 and Kasee Warner from Day True at www.rdr.link/KAN037