EDITOR’S COMMENT: Distributor disarray

Kitchens & Bathrooms News Editor,
Philippa Turrell

Just what is happening to the distribution business? First AWA Bathrooms announced its intention to stop trading from December 2012 and now tc bathrooms has gone into administration. We all know the market is tough out there – but that tough? And is it the only plausible reason for distribution companies to be suffering? While we all know the economic climate is far from easy, has it just continued to exacerbate issues already taking hold in the distribution sector?

Of course, distributors could be more open to economic pressures than any other business, with spiralling petrol costs causing logistics to soar. But, equally, perhaps a clue could also lie in a comment made by joint administrator of tc bathrooms, Hunter Kelly from Ernst & Young, which, in addition to the economic climate, stated tc bathrooms had “been unable to service the debt taken on to fund its recent consideration expansion”. So, are in fact, distributors in danger of trying to extend their business just too far?

AWA Bathrooms was a regional distribution outfit, servicing the South, before going national and opening (then subsequently closing) a Northern depot in Manchester. And in a recent interview on kandbnews.blogspot.com, chairman of Swift Electrical says distributors now offer too many brands. It points to distributors seeking to become generalists, rather than specialists, in order to gain a larger slice of a smaller, and (some may say) diminishing, pie.

And, then, there are retailers looking to enter the distribution market by sourcing their own goods from overseas, in a bid to gain a USP and to prevent customers from ‘like-for-like’ shopping around. The demarcation lines of ‘who does exactly what and where’ in the bathroom and kitchen industry have become increasingly blurred, if not completely removed.

So what are the answers for bathroom and kitchen distributors, which are not only in competition with businesses in their own channel, but perhaps now even selective retail showrooms? Well, that’s the $1million question.  Could it simply lie within the old adage “turnover for vanity, profit for sanity”? Undoubtedly (as in the case of tc bathrooms), a catalogue of issues can drive a business into administration. But with news that parties are already interested in buying tc bathrooms, let’s just hope that this distributor can be saved and show it’s not game over for this sector.

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AWA Bathrooms pulls out of distribution

National distributor AWA Bathrooms has notified showroom customers and suppliers that it will stop trading as of December 31, 2012.

The Bedfordshire-based business distributes 35 bathroom brands from the likes of Ideal Standard, Mira, Twyford Bathrooms, JT and Grohe nationwide.

Founded in 1965 as AW Andes in central London, the family-owned company then supplied only the South region. Following expansion, it made moves in London and Hertfordshire before resting at a 76,000sq distribution warehouse in Biggleswade.

The company also went on to open a facility in Manchester, which has since closed. A carrier service supplies the North and South West of England, as well as Wales.

AWA was acquired by Durston UK along with its merchant brand Fayers Plumbing & Building Supplies and Just Add Water retail showrooms.

Group managing director of Durston UK, Malcolm Whitton commented: "Following a detailed review of Durston (UK) Ltd business activities and in the light on ongoing difficult trading conditions, we have identified the need to focus on the futher development of our North London Fayers merchanting and Just Add Water bathroom showroom businesses going forward.

"As a result, and after careful consideration, we have embarked on a period of consulationa withthe effect staff at the Biggleswade head quarters of AWA Bathrooms Ltd on a phased and orderly withdrawal from this distribution element of our business by the 31st December 2012. We will continue to service customers in the interim period.

"It is with much regret that we have reached this decision, particularly in relation to such a longstanding and well-respected name in the industry."

Are you a retailer affected by AWA stopping trading? Did you expect the news or has it come as a shock? Are you a bathroom manufacturer who supplies AWA? How will this affect your sales or distribution of products? Email the editor Philippa Turrell.

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