KBB: Show amazing!

A cursory glance at the floorplan of kbbBirmingham may have presented the story of a rather small and perhaps even dwindling trade event. The floorspace seemed to have dimished, even since its previous outing  of two year's ago, with hoardings brought forward and cutting off hall corners, that clearly didn't sell. But that would only be the story on paper. In reality, this was one of the most vibrant, enthusiastic and positive kitchen and bathroom shows to be held over the past few years – even if it wasn’t the biggest!

Visitors joined with exhibitors and exuded their admiration for the event, both in the show aisles and over social media. Aisles were flooded - with independent bathroom and kitchen retailers, as is the tradition on the opening day - but the four-day show continued to flourish, right up until the close of its doors. In fact, veteran exhibitor and managing director of HiB, Warren Ginsberg claimed that the opening day of the show was the best he had ever had in all his year’s of business.

Exhibitors had worked hard to attract and keep the interest of visitors from Caple’s and Hotpoint’s on-stand cookery demonstrations, through to Pegler’s waterfall feature, and even Jetstone’s MD John Van Den Heuvel wielding blowtorches.

The show may have been small but it was beautifully formed and seemed to capture visitor attention. But it wasn’t just the stands that appealed to visitors; the well-constructed seminar programme were also well-attended. The retail-specific seminars saw plenty of ‘bums on seats’, so much so that there weren’t any left for the discussion about design with Gerd Bulthaup. It was strictly standing room only. And retail visitor Russell Buckley of Stuart Henry Kitchens on the Wirral was enthused about the KBB Cookery Demonstration Area, which was offering advice about how to hold a similar event in their own showroom.

All in all, KbbBirmingham 2012 was the boost that the industry has long needed, perhaps even craved? It was a jolt in the arm for kitchen and bathroom exhibitors and visitors and even signalled a new start for the industry. This is the new ‘now’ and this is the environment the kitchen and bathroom industry has to trade in. And maybe it was the acceptance of this that saw such positive vibes throughout the exhibition halls. It certainly seemed to spark a step-change in attitude, which could more importantly be a leap forward for the kitchen and bathroom industry.

KBB show..now tell!

As we gear up for the UK's largest kitchen and bathroom trade show, we ask brand director of UBM Andrew Vaughan what can we expect of KBB Birmingham? The show takes place at the NEC from March 4-7, 2012.

How does kbb Birmingham compare to the show in 2010 in terms of exhibitors and size?

It looks like we will finish level year-on-year and hit the targets we set ourselves in these challenging times. kbb Birmingham 2012 will have a great mix of new and old exhibitors and reflect what is happening in the markets we serve. Hopefully showing how resilient and enterprising these industries are.

How many visitors do you expect to attend?

Let’s be realistic, in these tough climates if we attract along the 16,000 visitors who attended 2010 with the same quality of retailers, specifiers, developers and interiors designers we will all be happy.

A criticism of kbb Birmingham in 2010 was the lack of bathroom manufacturer representation. What are you going to do to attract more bathroom exhibitors?

Our bathroom customers have told us their main challenge to exhibiting is money. They recognise the importance of kbb as a show, but they often find getting the required ROI difficult because they build large stands, which can prove to be expensive. In association with the Bathroom Manufacturers Association, we have just launched the BMA Pavilion. [It]allow BMA members to take get beautiful brand-friendly stand builds, for a third of the normal cost they would pay if they used an individual stand builder.

Another area specifically for bathroom exhibitors is Heart of Relaxation, where we are inviting exhibitors to create the ultimate bathing experience.

We appreciate that some bathroom companies are looking to move more into the contract market, so we will be exploring the future of this sector in Contract Spaces. Companies will create the ultimate space that inspires and educates a contract focussed audience of architects, designers and developers.

Tell us about the seminar programme…

From our extensive research, an overriding theme occurred of retail master classes, to give our retail audience insight into strategies that could help their business especially in this time of economic crisis. So were working with Econsultancy to provide a day of marketing masterclasses featuring ecommerce, website, email and digital - really cost effective things that all business can benefit from.

We’re also working with The Society of British Interior Designers SBID to provide sessions for interior designers and Global Color Research will present the latest information on trends.

For the full interview see the January issue of Kitchens & Bathrooms News.