As we move through December, it’s that time when it’s natural to reflect on the year that’s coming to a close, whilst we’re also finalising our plans for the coming 12 months. This is the end of my first calendar year with Ideal Standard, as I joined the business in April, and much of that period has been discovery for me as I have tried to ensure I get a clear and deep understanding of the business.
I’d like to thank you all for the warm welcome and for helping me hit the ground running. I’ve been so impressed with the people I’ve met throughout the Ideal Standard business and it’s great to see everyone’s pride and commitment to what we do. It really does shine through every single day.
I would characterise 2023 as the first full year where it felt we had tried to return to some degree of normality post-pandemic. We have started to see the benefits of a lot of the work that was started prior to 2020, in areas such as the launch of the Atelier Collections, the introduction of Salesforce as a CRM system and some of the structural changes we’ve made in our sales channels over the past few years. We have really started to build on these foundations.
Of course, as can often be the case there have been headwinds during the year. This year they came in the form of the continuing energy crisis, the cost-of-living crisis and then in the second half of this year the economy started to experience challenges which significantly impacted UK national housebuilders. Despite all this, some of the foundational work over the last few years has meant that in some areas we have managed to outperform the market.
I’d like to pick out a few highlights across the business that have contributed to our success this year.
- It has been a difficult year with the larger national housebuilders as they have simply built fewer houses in response to falling demand and the weaker economy. However, that has been partially offset by some great success with regional housebuilders. This is an area which was identified as a priority for growth for us and the focus on these developers is beginning to pay off. This is a very healthy foundation for us going into 2024 and we continue to work on plans to take share from our competitors across all residential segments.
- Winning the City Plumbing Supplier of The Year Award was a significant highlight this year, the feedback from the CPS team was that we have made huge strides in how we interact with them in all aspects of doing business together. Last week, I had dinner with the leadership team of the merchant buying group PHG and the consistent message was around the importance of our brands to their businesses. We need to continue to harness this in 2024 to deliver more growth.
- This year has seen us reap the rewards of our focus on the hotel sector, not only have we won several projects but we are building important relationships in major hotel groups such as Hilton and Marriott to position Ideal Standard as their preferred partner for their future pipelines.
- Our DIY and e-commerce business has seen double digit growth this year and we have ambitious plans continuing into 2024. The team have worked incredibly hard to expand the number of customers we’re dealing with and the depth of products we’re selling to both our existing and our new customers.
- We’ve had continued success with Atelier Collections and by the end of December we will have 140 showrooms with a total of 494 displays. There is a lot of excitement about the launch of the La Dolce Vita collection in July next year which we are already aware is resonating well with the UK showroom network.
- Whilst we were unable to progress this year with much of our expansion plans in export, the planning in the background and market assessments mean we can react next year. We have however made strides with our business in Malaysia and we hope to see this realised in 2024.
- Following the New Street Survey in 2022 we continue to strive to implement initiatives associated with the feedback you gave us. We have seen much of that roll out this year, including long service cards, implementing the training hub and the continuation of regular town halls so we can keep you all up to date with what is happening in our business.
Looking Ahead
2024 will see us continuing to build on our foundations and we will share our vision for the next three years in February at our Sales Conference and Town Halls across our UK sites. Among these priorities are ensuring we become the supplier of choice in the residential channel and first protecting, then growing our core business in Armitage Shanks.
We anticipate Villeroy & Boch will close out their acquisition of the Ideal Standard group in early 2024 but they remain a competitor until that happens. It’s unlikely we will see any integration during 2024 so it remains our responsibility to focus on our UK business with the plans we have in place. I would like to reiterate the exciting opportunity that lies ahead for us as the two businesses come together and create a portfolio of powerful brands in the UK.
I was very excited to join the business and it has certainly not disappointed! Thank you once again for the warm welcome you have given me. I wish you all a Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year. Please take time to recharge and spend quality time with your family and friends. I look forward to working with you all to deliver a successful 2024.