This month Tim Wallace spoke to Alan Hufton, owner of Holmevalley Bathroom Design near Holmfirth in West Yorkshire
I get into the shop at 8.45am and the first thing I do is put the kettle on and make a pot of tea. Then it's a case of opening the post, answering the phone, dealing with customers and reps and keeping the showroom tidy.
I'm a complete one-man band. The only thing I don't do is clean the windows outside. I launched the business in 1994 but I've been in the bathroom trade for 24 years. I'll be 52 in September.
I used to work in a showroom in Huddersfield but I didn't agree with their principles. I didn't want to deal in packaged bathroom suites. Before I opened here I surveyed 100 people and asked them what was wrong with their bathroom and 90% of them said we don't have enough storage. I branched out on my own because I saw a gap in the market.
Once I get a job I sub-contract it out to my fitters. The plumbers I deal with have been going for 25 years. We work in conjunction and it's been very successful. There's nothing worse than someone who's been on a six-week plumbing course, buys a white van and thinks they're qualified. They're not.
I live two minutes away from the shop, which is quite handy. The showroom is on a main road into Holmfirth. It's a lovely part of the world as long as you don't get tourists coming in. It's 'Last of the Summer Wine' territory, so I get plenty of people passing. Most of my business is local but I've been as far as Leeds. About 95% is recommendations; I don't advertise except occasionally in the local paper.
There's no set routine; every day and every customer is different. Sometimes I've got a customer sitting outside waiting when I get in, sometimes I only get two or three people a day, sometimes it's ten, sometimes I don't see anybody.
People might think it's difficult for me to get out on site, but I only measure in the evening, usually Monday and Tuesday. Tonight for example, I'll go home at five, have my tea and be in a customer's house by six. I might not get home until nine. It's a very stressful job sometimes. I'm working 70-80 hours a week. I also do deliveries, usually after work. I don't really get lunch; I eat as I go.
Call me old fashioned but I don't need a computer to design. I can draw it 3D if you want it that way. It goes back to my engineering background. Most people just want to know that it will all fit in the way they want it to.
I'm aiming at the middle to the top end. My typical customers want a traditional look but it's an affluent area. I supply to the trade and to retail and deal with people like Ellis Furniture of Huddersfield, Barwicks and Frontline. I pride myself on service. If I don't get that I don't want to know. One bad customer can spoil a 14-year reputation.
Our main bath supplier is Harold Moore of Sheffield, who for me are the absolute best. On the brassware side I do Pegler, again because they're the best. The cheapest bath that Moore's do is £350 but the quality is far superior to anyone else's. It's the only one fastened with bolts. The biggest complaint I get from customers is that their bath creaks and moves, but theirs won't do that. I've got a problem at the moment though because Moore's factory is under six feet of water. I'm having to ring round and tell my customers their deliveries are going to be delayed.
British-made baths are not as stylish as foreign ones though. British manufacturers have stood still for 10 years. Tywfords and Armitage haven't moved with the times. I sell more Roca sanitaryware than anything else.
Business is very good, although a lot of reps say it's a bit tough out there. People say you can't run a successful business without an overdraft, but I say you can if you run it right. I've taken my plumbers out for Christmas dinner every year since day one, it's my way of saying thank you. In the first year there were eight, last year there were 36.
Sales last year were just short of £200,000 and the gross profit was £44,000. My net profit was £26,000. Year-on-year it's going up. Average spend is £2000-£3000 which is also going up. This year my turnover will be about £250,000.
In terms of trends, a lot of people are taking baths out and putting walk-in cubicles in, and fitted furniture. My sales with Ellis have gone up and up.
I have got a social life too believe it or not, and Wednesday and Thursday is when I go out Crown Green Bowling. I've got my own team in the Huddersfield works league, but Friday is my night of leisure at home. I do occasionally have an afternoon off to go to the races, and I also go to KBB but that's usually at the weekend. I don't do the foreign shows. As long as I get the brochures and catalogues I know what's going on.
On Saturday's we have my 92-year-old mother-in-law over, then we usually go to the casino in Huddersfield on Saturday night. I'm usually in the garden Sunday. There's more to life than being sat behind this desk. I have a wife, plus two daughters from a previous marriage, so I have to have some time away from the shop.
Holmevalley Bathroom Design
Unit 1, Millfield House
Huddersfield Road
Thongsbridge
Holmfirth
HD9 3JL
Tel/fax: (01484) 680048
www.holmevalleybathrooms.co.uk
