| 24 March 2011 | |
ISH 2011: Bathroom market 'slow and aged' says Ideal Standard boss |
Back |
Hamill joined Ideal Standard International in January last year and spoke to kbbreview at ISH 2011. He said that his former roles as boss of ICI Paints and Philips Lighting gave him an insight into how far the bathroom industry was behind equivalent markets, saying that it operates by telling people what they should have rather than giving them what they want.
"That's why you end up with so many innovations that fail, and so many issues with inventory management," he said.
"It's why it has distribution channel structures in the way it has them. I have personal experience in businesses that have exactly the same characteristics, if not the same product, and if you look at those sectors and their links to interior designers or architects, their demand creation processes and their 'pull' way of working, they're far in advance of this industry."
Hamill also pledged his commitment to UK manufacturing at the company's Rugeley factory after the impending closure of the Middlewich site.
"Rugeley has had major investment," he said. "It's probably the most
automated factory of its kind, certainly within our company and as much as any in this industry. The UK is an absolute core market for us and we're a strong leader there, especially in the ceramics we make in Rugeley.
"We're particularly strong in the Armitage Shanks non-residential business in healthcare, hotels, school and prisons and last year we won up to 90% of all the sanitaryware business for the Olympics. I absolutely expect that to continue and for us to grow in the UK, so I feel very optimistic about the future of the UK business and consequently the future of Rugeley."
