Westin showcased integrated extractors and cooker hoods, alongside more competitors at kbb Birmingham

Q: What is the story of your stand?

A: We are exhibiting the latest cooker hood finishes and worktop solutions. We’ve been demonstrating the new integrated hob extractor and it’s been virtually non-stop since we got to the stand. We have a massive cooper bronze textured hood and because of the interest in worktop solutions, we’ve had to point it out to people.

Q: How does the show compare to previous years?

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A: I certainly get the vibe it’s a lot busier. There seems to be a lot more stands. I must admit with the build up to the show, I was very worried about the weather and if that would affect visitors but we’ve actually been very busy.

Q: How is business?

A: Generally business is going really well. We continue to go from strength to strength. We’ve got a new generation of ceiling units, which are much more designer-based than we’ve previously had. Our new recirculation technology – 360 – is very popular, so business is going really well. I think there is a lot more people coming into the market and being more prominent. I’ve looked around and seen quite a lot of our competitors here and they’re not normally here, so I do think there’s going to be an increase in competition which I think is always quite healthy.

I think to a certain extent we’ve benefitted from Brexit because we’ve been able to hold our prices over the last year and that’s really supported our customers. We will continue to do that. We may have price increases this year but that will only be inflationary. We are trying to support [retailers} as much as we can, as we go into the uncertainty of a post-Brexit situation.