Colleagues across the business have been urged to “Own it!” in a series of mini-conferences held at Armitage, Hull and London.
The main themes and key strategies for 2023 have been shared with hundreds of colleagues following the Commercial Conference in Leicester at the end of January.
Managing Director Dave Barber encouraged colleagues to take ownership of their area of responsibility ahead of what is expected to be a challenging year for the industry.
He said that, as one of the largest bathroom manufacturers and with a strong product portfolio and supporting materials, we have everything we need to own the market and ensure a successful 2023.
Key themes communicated during the mini-conferences were:
• Ideal People, our focus on employee well-being and learning and development in order to attract and retain outstanding colleagues
• Our service proposition, ensuring we provide excellent service to customers, including continuing to improve rates of OTIF (on time, in full) deliveries
• The 10 initiatives which are key to success and how everybody in the business can support them to ensure they achieve their potential
These 10 initiatives include a major focus on our SPO (Smart Premium Offer) ceramics and Atelier.
Significant sales increases are also being targeted in SPO fittings and showering as part of a bigger plan to grow our fittings share. The other initiatives include Silk Black, Non-residential portfolio, pre wall products, furniture, Ultra Flat shower trays and our Kitchen tap range.
An exciting programme of marketing events for the year includes the international pop-up in Venice, Aesth|ethics, which will not just focus on the beauty and design of our products but also our sustainability efforts.
The program of events will then head to Armitage, where refurbishments will create a positive customer journey to an upper floor in the factory where the pop-up will be housed. Visitors will also enjoy a tour of the factory and see the ceramic manufacturing process first-hand.
This will be followed by showcasing the LDSC at Clerkenwell Design Week in May and a three-day pop-up in Manchester, targeting the architect and designer community, in what is a thriving city for high-rise developments.
These events will aim to attract customers to see the best of our portfolio in person and follow on from the first pop-up at our brassware plant in Wittlich, Germany, which was a huge success, bringing in people from across Europe.
Marketing Director Leanne Martin said: “There is a huge amount in the pipeline for this year and we are all really excited about the potential for driving up sales and having an incredibly positive impact on the perception of our brand.
“We now have a range of products which are making waves in the industry and bringing people in to touch and feel them in person will help to raise their profile even further, which we’ve already seen with visitors to the London Design and Specification Centre.
“The opportunity for a factory tour at the only large scale ceramics manufacturer in the UK always proves really popular and we look forward to showing people the skill and craftmanship that goes into our products.”