Founder of Society of British and International Design (SBID) Vanessa Brady OBE called for design professions to unite, at the KBBG Annual Members meeting.

She said working together could help increase kitchen and bathroom retail business and protect against an uncertain future economic background.

Addressing attendees at the eighth annual KBBG meeting, Vanessa Brady OBE said the two professions could benefit from working together, as kitchen design is a specialism.

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She stated: “I don’t think that interior designers, generally, or architects are good kitchen designers. I’ve always advocated that not everyone is an expert in everything.

“I think we can help improve, increase and swell the size of your [independent kitchen retail] sector by [interior] designers saying ‘here’s our budget for this property for a kitchen – what can you do for us?’”

Speaking about the role of the designer, Brady said although consumers are becoming more interested in interiors,  their understanding of design is often about aesthetics.

She advised independent retailers to educate clients on the design value they bring, from choosing products, understanding the impact on the environment, fitting the function, all while meeting budget.

Explaining every industry has 40 years before it needs to be reinvented, Brady said the landscape following the pandemic has brought opportunities for designers from enhanced hygiene creating higher value specifications, through to changes in how we use the home.

She stated: “I see this as a period of time in our industry as a real step change because people will not go back to work five days a week in the office. People will work at home and that means the workplace will change and so will home.”

For the past decade, the home has been based upon open plan spaces but Brady said that may not necessarily be suitable in the future, if people need privacy working from home.

“I think they’ll be a lot of change and reconfiguration of space in the home, and that’s opportunity for your industry because you’ll change the kitchens.”

Brady stated the role of a professional designer was also instrumental against online sales, as they are “selling things the internet cannot see, like how you move around safely, how you can reconfigure space” and also avoids consumers making costly mistakes

“I do think, as an industry, we need to describe the value we bring because design is something you can’t see, you only know it’s good when it all flows and works properly. You notice how bad it is when it stands out.

“If we can teach the client to come to us to begin with and that we define issues and make sure we specify the right product, and we will save them money.”

Brady suggested interior designers and kitchen designers should link up more closely “because we’ve got consumers that should be your customers and vice versa. We could help each other if we grow and work together more.”

Stating in the next six months’ the industry would be unknown financial territory, she stated: “We don’t know what’s ahead, but we can – if we’re careful – start to plan to protect ourselves from any bigger bumps than necessary.”