Recruitment and membership director of trade association the Kbsa, Malcolm Scott explains why independent KBB showrooms are coming together

Over fifty showrooms have signed up to join the Kbsa in the 12 months since I accepted the offer to become the membership director.

More than 20 applications have already been approved, with a further 31 retail showrooms currently being vetted for membership.

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These include some very well-established names, including: KBB Centre of Ipswich, Kesalls Interiors of Manchester, Saffron Interiors of Guilford, Range Interiors of Manchester, Counter Interiors of York, Phoenix Kitchens of Metheringham, Gainsborough Kitchens, Holtham’s Kitchens of Heage, and Callerton Kitchens of Newcastle.

National accreditation merits

The whole mood within the kitchen channel has gradually changed, over time, with many stakeholders now believing independent retailers should seek accreditation for the ‘greater good’.

That is even where they do not feel that they need such recognition, but want to improve consumer perception about the home improvement industry.

The Kbsa offers genuine accreditation and a simple route to the Government endorsed TrustMark Approved status.

It has been enthusiastically adopted by many Kbsa corporate members. They are now actively informing retailers of the merits of wider national accreditation.

Waterline, Blum, Symphony and Quookers have all been especially supportive in the association’s objective of appealing to a much wider audience of retail showrooms.

Over many years ABTA has been very effective in persuading the UK travelling public to buy from their members who have clear accreditation, the Kbsa has the same objectives.

Alongside the Kbsa web site which attracts 50,000 consumer visits per year, there are over 200 websites operated by our retailer members, plus websites operated by corporate members, all informing the UK consumer of the benefits of buying from an accredited and independently audited showroom.

Kbsa membership benefits

The large array of basic services provided by a trade association are all designed to make the job of running a showroom and presenting a professional face to the public as easy as possible.

These include standardised ‘terms of trade’, government lobbying and industry voice, alongside national deals on insurance, vehicle purchase, computer purchases.

Plus the Kbsa offers its members dispute resolution, staff training, networking and optional deposit guarantee schemes all to make the job of running a showroom and presenting a professional face to the public as easy as possible.

Half of the current visitors to the Kbsa website use the ‘find a retailer’ function with 10% of these visitors clicking onto a member’s own web site.

It demonstrates that once the consumer understands the message, they will actively seek out one of our accredited retail members.

I believe we can double our membership within quite a short period enabling the Kbsa to spend more on consumer advertising and in turn increase the number of visits to the Kbsa web site to 500,000 each year.