National distributor tc bathrooms has hit out at suggestions that the company has been placed in administration. The rumour has been circulated for weeks, however had recently gathered pace on twitter with retailers looking for confirmation or a denial.
However, managing director of tc bathrooms Martin Chalcraft was quick to slam the speculation, stating that there was “no truth whatsoever” in the gossip. He countered: “I am very frustrated at the negativity it brings.”
Speaking exclusively to Kitchens & Bathrooms News, Martin Chalcraft said he believed the rumour was initiated by rival bathroom businesses, stating: “It has definitely come from competitors.”
He said: “When people are quite, reps don’t have a lot to talk about and not a lot to sell. Some of our customers are quieter than they like and normally [reps] wouldn’t get the time of day.”
He added that product shortages, may have led companies to mistakenly think tc bathrooms was in financial trouble: “We’ve had a lot of stock shortages over the last couple of months and I think it has emanated from there. The reason being was the final quarter of last year, for us, was very quiet. We saw our trade business drop back quite significantly and as any prudent business would, we cut back on our supply, to obviously match supply and demand, that’s judicious in anyone’s book.”
Chalcraft continued: “Since kbbBirmingham in March, we had a fantastic show. The product, the new brochure and the pricing structure was received better than I expected, to be honest. And to some degree, it caught us out because we still had production levels at a level which weren’t then sufficient for demand.”
Since tc bathrooms imports its products from the Far East, it took time to ramp up production. Chalcraft said: “It was only in August that we found stock levels back to where they really should be and they’re probably not really where they should be in utopia. But I think off the back of frustration of customers in some lines, it wasn’t across everything, it was unfortunately across the best-selling products, I think people put two and two together and came up with five.”
However he pointed out: “Let me be clear. This business is doing fine. We’re not going into administration. We’re not in administration.”
When asked if the business had been in administration, Chalcraft exclaimed: “Christ, no! At half year, my business is up 10% on the prior year like-for-like. That’s a statistic that not many MDs could boast about, currently in the industry, I would guess.” He added: “I’m profitable and I’m well run and there’s not a lot more to add, if I’m honest.”
Dewsbury-based tc bathrooms was established in 2000, operates from a purpose-built, 205,000 sq ft warehouse and distribution centre and employs 166 staff. It supplies a range of bathroom products from cast iron baths, through to furniture, steam cabinets, taps and sanitaryware.
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