Chief commercial officer of furniture fittings manufacturer and distributor Häfele UK Lee Dicey explains meeting face-to-face with retailers at Kbb Birmingham helps foster long-lasting relationships 

Q: Why have you chosen to exhibit at Kbb Birmingham and how important are trade shows to your business?

A: Since we launched our first exhibition bus in 1966, we’ve always relished the chance for face-to-face interactions because they are the foundations of strong, lasting, professional relationships.

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Kbb Birmingham is the perfect platform for that, bringing together the industry for four whole days of innovation, inspiration and collaboration.

Q: What will be the story of the stand at Kbb Birmingham and what will be your hero launches?

A: To celebrate our 100-year history, we’ll be launching a series of new products and promoting our Service+ range to help attendees understand how they can increase their efficiencies and profitability by working together with us.

We’ll be showcasing many of our legacy products that have revolutionised the industry, including the Minifix connector system, which launched in 1983 and to this day, plays a key role in the flatpack furniture world.

Visitors can get hands-on with our new Flex Lighting System – a push-fit silicon-based ribbon which is suitable for multiple applications as it pairs up with a selection of profiles for plinths, handleless cabinets, worktops, and splashbacks.

Customers can also explore additional Matrix drawer colourways and materials, plus the Metalla 310 which has been released in a new graphite finish.

We’ll also be demonstrating the latest innovations from our partners, including the world’s first eight-millimetre one-piece steel drawer side from Grass, and Zuma, an intelligently paired loudspeaker and LED spotlight.

Q: Who would you like to attract to your stand and what will be the benchmark of success for you at the show?

A: For us, Kbb is about connections and feedback. It’s as an opportunity to strengthen our existing relationships with studios, designers and tradespeople, and to introduce our products to those who might never have used them before.

The response we typically get when we share our latest innovations is that they will help solve a challenge that customers have faced for years. When we hear that, we know we’ve delivered.

Q: What will be the greatest challenge/opportunities for KBB retailers over the next 12 months?

A: Research we undertook earlier this year found that a third of people (36%) have no plans to move and will instead make home improvements over the next two years.

Two of the top three planned improvements are new kitchens and bathrooms.

This is both an opportunity and a challenge for KBB retailers, because while there is appetite amongst homeowners to invest in their properties, competition to secure business will be fierce.

Making our customers’ lives easier has always been the driving force of what we do, so visitors to our stand can learn more about Service+, our re-vamped range of services designed to add value from concept through to installation and beyond.

Service+ Knowledge connects customers with specialist Häfele product and industry knowledge, while Service+ Planning is a range of free planning and specification support.

Service+ Assist provides customers with ongoing technical support before and after purchase, while Service+ Customised offers a wide range of custom manufactured solutions including Häfele’s bespoke worktop and timber drawer services.