Tuesday 13 September 2011

INTERVIEW: FIRA going for gold

CEO of The Furniture Industry Research Association (FIRA) Jonny Westbrooke explains the significance of its Gold Certification and defends the association’s right to present it to DIY giants for their kitchen installation services
Q. The FIRA Gold Award has recently changed to become FIRA Gold Certification but why?
A. The FIRA Gold Award has been around for many years and it was often marketed by holders as an award although it always consisted of an audit programme; in short it is earned rather than bestowed. We, therefore, chose to change from calling it an ‘Award’ to ‘Certification’ to emphasise the rigorous procedures behind the accreditation scheme. In addition, we wanted to make it clear that it is an on-going certification process, whereas awards are generally associated with a specific date and therefore lose impact over time. We felt it would be more beneficial to redefine the scheme as Certification, especially as we want it to be recognised by both consumers and specifiers in all furniture sectors.
Q. What is the requirement for FIRA Gold Product Certification when the UK already operates British Standards?
A. Good question. The main difference is that the FIRA Gold Certification is an auditing programme. This enables FIRA to establish if the manufacturers or retailers continue to supply products to the same specification to the one originally tested. As you can appreciate, trends change within the kitchen industry and therefore each scheme holder has to commit to testing any changes to the product offer; whether caused by a change in specification, such as a new drawer system or a new seasons’ door design.

Q. What proportion of kitchen manufacturers or kitchen furniture sold does FIRA Gold product represent?
A. Most major retailers and certainly nearly all contract-based kitchen companies hold FIRA Gold Product Certification and therefore, I would think that this would represent a high proportion of the market, probably around 80%.

Q. How much consumer awareness does the FIRA Gold Product Certification or FIRA Gold Installation Certification have in the trade or high street?
A. Following the re-launch of FIRA Gold, this year, we have proactively started marketing the FIRA Gold Certification Scheme to architects, facility managers and specifiers. With the aid of a forthcoming web project, we aim to assist specifiers within the domestic and commercial markets to understand even more fully the different standards and specifications available within the UK, which will naturally include detailed information about FIRA Gold Certification schemes.
We will also be developing a FIRA Gold consumer campaign in 2012, as well as encouraging our holders to use the logo within their own marketing material. As part of our 2011 re-launch FIRA’s marketing manager created a FIRA Gold Technical Reference pack, providing a full range of marketing support and POS activities for marketing managers of Certification holders to e4xplain what it is to their customers.

Q. What advantage is it for high street retailers to sell FIRA Gold Product furniture?
A. It helps them increase their sales by:
Standing out from their competitors and adding value to their offer by using FIRA Gold Product Certification quality mark of excellence
Providing customer satisfaction through consistently achieving product excellence
Giving confidence to their customer that the product has been tested and audited by the independent industry experts not just reaching the minimum standards, but exceeding them
Allows them to grow their reputation and brand as a quality supplier
Creates new and exciting advertising and PR opportunities ultimately raising their profile
Having an independent certification which is industry recognised as a mark of product excellence.


Q. B&Q and Homebase have recently achieved FIRA Gold Installation Certificate, yet these are frequently held up as poor examples of kitchen fitting. Does this not bring the FIRA Gold Installation into disrepute?
A. Due to the high volumes of kitchens that the larger retailers install there will always be unhappy customers and internet-based reviews are sometimes strongly biased towards them particularly if they are very active; in other words it can often be the case that a few loud voices make a very big commotion. It should be said that the supply and fitting of a kitchen is logistically very complicated, any number of things can go wrong which the retailer may not have direct control of. From time-to-time things do go wrong for every business and we believe it is how problems are dealt with that is the real mark of excellent customer service.
The key point is that by achieving FIRA Gold Installation Certification, large retailers are showing their commitment to ensuring their installations are carried out as well as possible. FIRA Gold Installation Certification looks at every aspect of the installation process, ensuring that installations are carried out following a robust process which FIRA has audited. Through the certification process, large retailers have shown their genuine desire to improve their installation services, which can only be good for consumers.

Q. Why has the uptake for FIRA Gold Installation Certification been so limited with only five accredited companies?
A. The installation scheme is relatively new in relation to the product scheme. We are in negotiations with several larger manufactures and retailers so we are confident that over the next year the number of certified holders will grow. Also, the numbers of kitchen installed by the current holders is huge and represents a huge chunk of the market.

Q. How can you encourage boutique kitchen studios to apply for FIRA Gold Installation Certification, when they want to disassociate themselves from DIY offerings?
A.  I would certainly encourage smaller retailers to apply, after all FIRA Gold is a certification scheme and the mark of excellence for furniture. What better way to give potential customers’ peace of mind than by demonstrating that your service has been certified by the industry’s independent authority?


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