One such group was 'Training and Education' and we brought together representatives from retailers, manufacturers, training bodies and other interested parties to create and deliver meaningful courses that would be useful and sustainable. 

It will come as little surprise that too much input and too much self interest by training bodies to protect their turf meant that no real progress was made at that time. 

It was, however, as a result of this impasse that the KBB NTG was formed - a national training body exclusively for the KBB industry. Today the NTG, which represents everyone involved in the design and sale of kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms, is striving to deliver meaningful training courses and is driven by a volunteer board and a passionate CEO, Renee Mascari.  

As I write this, I will have completed my 39th NTG accredited training course and trained my 400th delegate and I am delighted to have received so much support over the last four years I have been running my courses.  

But, in an industry that is competing for consumers' disposable income, the number of applicants for the courses available from the NTG is incredibly low and I neither see the industry realising the importance of training nor taking skills training seriously. 

Understandably, manufacturers will invest in salient product training for anyone who sells their product but, and I speak with some authority from my courses, many delegates do not currently have the knowledge or skill to translate these features into benefits thereby making it more difficult for them to close the sale.  

I would urge the industry to really reflect on what training they and their staff/customers could benefit from. In today's competitive environment, it is important that anyone involved in the sales process understands the growing need to be aware of, and use, body language to their advantage. They also need to practise their negotiation skills and recognise buying motives and buying signals. 

While my courses follow a particular structure, I have tailored them to the KBB sector and used my ten years of experience as CEO of the KBSA, to make sure they reflect a realistic view of the opportunities and pitfalls of people working in our sector. 

So, we have some success in training ourselves and staff but there is a long way to go before we can say that we are taking the task seriously. Among the 400 delegates I have trained are representatives from John Lewis, Magnet, B&Q and around 200 independent kitchen and bathroom specialists. I have also tailor-made training courses for companies including Planit, Gorenje, Alno, and Nicholas Anthony. 

So while you quite rightly enjoyed the kbbreview Industry Awards this month and are congratulating the excellent design and project management successes, please do spend some time on thinking how the KBB NTG can help you achieve even higher skill levels for the future. 

I would be delighted if, at next year's awards, we were congratulating the winners of the 'Training and Education' category.