Interview Robert Welch Designs
Did you know?
Radford is the largest range of stainless steel cutlery in the world with 71 individual items. The assortment was extended specifically to appeal to hospitality customers.
Radford Bright Cutlery
both instore and online. Hospitality bounced back with particularly strong sales of cutlery and our Drift range of serve and tableware. We are also growing our brand presence in all sectors across global markets such as the US, Australia, Asia and the Middle East. The brand is such an iconic name in the business – do you feel a pressure to uphold, and progress, the standards set by Robert Welch himself? Everything we do is anchored by the enduring design principles that we have held dear for almost 75 years. We talk about the “The Robert Welch DNA” which runs through the entire business from our design philosophy, exacting manufacturing standards and the relationships we hold with our customers and consumers. The Robert Welch Way is truly at the heart of everything we do. What are the biggest challenges the company faces? Like most businesses we are dealing with supply chain issues, increased freight and production
costs. We monitor our pricing and have reacted accordingly, but we are agile in our approach to these issues as they are compounded by the cost-of-living crisis and an uncertain global economic outlook. We obviously can’t influence these global issues, but we are nimble and are adapting our business operations and investment in stock to ensure product availability and we continue to provide our customers with outstanding customer service and sales and marketing support. The Radford range is one of your best-known collections and I believe it is the largest stainlesssteel cutlery range globally, how regularly do you add to it? Yes, Radford is our most popular and revered cutlery range and currently consists of 71 individual items. The range has developed beyond knives, forks and spoons to include gourmet dining and serving so by choosing Radford you really don’t need to look anywhere else. You can just keep adding to your collection! We extended the range specifically
Market growth Robert Welch is growing its brand presence in all sectors across global markets such as the US, Australia, Asia and the Middle East. 38 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL
Drift Serve and Tableware
to appeal to our hospitality customers, but the size of the collection also gives our retail customers confidence when choosing Radford. We continue to constantly review the range to see if there are any items we are missing, recent additions have been the drink stirrers and an amuse bouche spoon. Which are your most popular collections for retail, and HoReCa? Our enduring cutlery ranges offer something different to complement the style of any hotel or restaurant. Radford remains ever popular but designs such as Quinton have the added appeal of being available in a Vintage finish which fits a variety of styles
How much time is put into designing your assortments? Take the ranges within the Master Collection as an example. The same attention to detail is applied to a tiny condiment spoon as to a soup ladle, we never compromise on function and quality. Our Master Collection features some of our best design led and iconic designs as well as pieces that are particularly challenging in terms of manufacturing. Do you find consumers are paring back on what cutlery they use in the home? We have found there is a trend towards eating more casually at home. Bowl food for example
“Hospitality bounced back with particularly strong sales of cutlery” favoured in today’s interiors. We have also seen a lot of interest in our unique textured ranges such as Sandstone and Blockley Slate which is new to Collection 3.5® and offers a tactile feel in the hand as well as adding an accent to the table. Our stunning Drift Collection is a big hit with the hospitality sector. Made with 18/10 stainless steel the collection is specifically designed for hotels, restaurants and cafés and includes serving bowls, trays and stands, jugs and pitchers, tea and coffee sets and barware.
continues to be popular so we have designed slightly wider fork heads and many sizes of spoons and sporks. However, everyday family dining and formal entertaining are still the primary sales drivers for cutlery in all sectors. Of course, Robert Welch is not just cutlery with tableware, barware, kitchenware too – as a brand are you interested in expanding your growth into different category sectors? We are always reviewing our collections and have several