I would like to comment after your recent article on the KBSA. I write as a kitchen specialist and former member of the KSA.

The communication is just not there, never has been and sadly never will be. The association is run by corporate officers who are out of touch with the work that the organisation was set up to do at its inception.

When Graham Hayden was running the show, we all knew who he was - his face was in most trade magazines and he went about his business in a work-like manner. Who are the KBSA? What do they stand for? Has anyone seen an officer in their showroom (apart from middle England) in the past five years?

As for just 23 retail members turning up at the AGM meeting, do you think the penny may be about to drop?

The obvious answer is to seriously canvass the members in person by visiting their workplaces and making them feel part of the organisation. Email and telephone have their roles to play, but even politicians get out of their offices to visit the paying public once in a while. The KBSA cannot rely on an insurance policy to keep the membership.

Which begs the question: without the carrot of the now historically famous consumer protection policy saga, would the KBSA exist?

Let them learn a lesson from their own membership - if retailers are not offering service, quality of goods and sound all-round information at the right price, they will go out of business.

So, officers of the KBSA, talk about it all you like among yourselves, but the acid test is to get out there and talk to your members, help them to understand what it is you do for them and, above all, involve them as members.

Without your members, you may as well have a quorum of five to vote and wrap it up while standing around a BCG Big Tour event road show van.

Andrew Bradburn, Europlan, Bournemouth

What do you think? Email the editor direct: andrew@kbbreview.com