metropol
Kitchen/Bathrooms
Behind the scenes in a smart family business...
T
here is no doubt that when, adding impact, style, luxury and value to your home, one key area is the bathroom. Increasingly, we are all looking for new ideas, good value and suppliers and retailers with an established reputation. Showerwell Christchurch is a family owned business, founded in Christchurch by David and Robyn Mallia over fourteen years ago. Employing around 30 local people, it uniquely includes three generations of the Mallia family. Now based in a purpose built showroom/factory/warehouse complex in Wigram, they work closely with designers and
Guidance is free. Quality is expected. Family is everything
48 May, 29 2014 Metropol
building companies to source and manufacture the style of shower and bathroom products that meet the needs and budgets of their mutual clients, such as the brand new 1800mm SMC shower tray. Nick Mallia, Managing Director, explains it like this: “We’ve always known that our customer is a local home owner, developer or designer who is looking for a stylish and affordable range of showers and bathrooms, supplied locally, manufactured to fit the brief and installed by local professionals. That’s what we pride ourselves on.” When we visited the showroom, Steve Le Lievre was talking with a prospective customer about her ideas for a new bathroom. Steve told us: “Each and every customer is different, but we tend to get asked the same questions. It’s a big
investment and doesn’t happen every year! To help, we recently produced a free ‘Guide to Bathroom Renovations’ brochure, which is available for free on our website and has proved really popular.” The factory and warehouse side of this
business is rarely seen by customers and is a multi-level hive of activity. Mark Udy, the Branch Manager, explained how it all works: “We work closely with companies who are building hundreds of new dwellings at any one time and we work with homeowners investing in their biggest single asset. That gives us challenges that we enjoy taking on and which helps us as a Company stay focused on the end result. That’s where our factory and our installation team gives us an edge.”The team has applied their experience to other aspects of the home. “We have a skilled team of joiners, assemblers and installers and our range of wardrobe, shelving and storage solutions has proved very popular,” Nick told us. “In fact, a key trend we’re seeing is people looking to maximise the storage in their home, keeping clutter behind closed doors and optimising space with stylish solutions for storing necessities such as shoes and handbags!” That last comment received a swift poke in the ribs from his sister Tracey, who works in the Quality Control team. As challenging as it can be to run a family business, it’s also fun and Showerwell Christchurch is looking good for the future and playing its part in the big rebuild.