Robert Simpson started Manhattan Showers 19 years ago on a wing and a prayer, initially picking up one small order. With the help of his wife Karen and a board of hand-picked directors, managing director Simpson managed to develop the business from its modest beginnings to become one of the UK's largest manufacturers of shower enclosures and doors. 

Naturally, it's had its fair share of turbulent times. The business started just as the last recession was coming to an end but, although it felt tough at the time, as sales director Gary Campbell points out during my visit, in hindsight that was more of a blip by comparison with the severe economic conditions we're experiencing now. 

"At that time, we thought it was terrible, but looking back now, it was just a couple of years of really difficult trading," recalls Campbell. "What we're going through at the moment is absolutely changing the dynamics of our industry."

From the outset, Robert Simpson deliberately hand-picked experienced individuals for his management team. You get the impression that, although the business was set up with very little capital investment, he had big plans for the future and the vision and knowledge to ensure Manhattan became a success.

"Robert head-hunted me while I was working as sales and marketing director for Coram," explains Campbell. "The business had already been running for about six months, but it didn't have a brochure, a product range or a marketing strategy. They were literally just making doors to fulfil an order for one customer. Coram was going through some structural changes at the time and, as I'd known Rob for years, I took a gamble and joined Manhattan.

"I didn't get paid for six months and I went from driving a nice company car to a banger from an auction. At times we were so skint I remember having to borrow money from my mum! I also remember one Friday when all the directors had to go down to the cash point to see which of our cards would work to give us some money to pay the wages."

Graham Starkey the company's technical director also got on board around the same time as Campbell and that's when the business really started to take shape. Collectively, they came up with the name Manhattan. 

"We wanted to bring a bit of glamour and aspiration to the market," says Campbell and set about building up a strong product portfolio and securing market share. 

Considering recent stories about the decline of UK manufacturing, I was keen to find out how UK-based manufacturer Manhattan is dealing with the severest trading conditions for two decades, and the challenges the shower door market throws at a company of its size?

Q: How did Manhattan grow from such a small company to the size it is today? 

A: The shower door market has changed dramatically during our 19 years' trading. Big names, big brands have come and gone. A testament to us here at Manhattan Showers is that we're still here because of the way we've managed to adapt during difficult trading conditions. We obviously did things right at the beginning, because we grew from very early on. In our first year, we turned over just under half-a-million pounds and within five years we were one of the top three suppliers in the UK.

Q: This recession has been tough for everyone, when did Manhattan start to feel the effects?

A: I knew that something was going on in late 2007 when sales to house builders started to drop dramatically. Our contract business dried up over a period of about three months and we lost about 20% of our contract business. From our point of view, the recession didn't hit the retail sector until late 2008. 

Q: How did Manhattan recover from losing 20% of its business almost overnight?

A: We lost a significant chunk of our business, and it was scary. We had to thin our business down in order to survive and went through a painful redundancy process, something we'd never had to face before. We had to address how we could become more competitive and developed a product range that we believed was better suited to the market - one that filled the gap in our portfolio. We've managed to keep a strong team together and stick to our core business values, so we're in a good position to help the business grow once the economy starts to pick up.

Q: The UK bathroom market has been attacked in the past for being one of the worst for uncertified, low-quality products. Where does Manhattan stand on quality and standards?

A: The shower door market started to see a new level of competition late in 2007, mainly in the form of Chinese imported products, as the contract market showed signs of slowing down. Whether it's a positive or negative, it has shaped the way the shower market works. Suddenly, we saw unit prices falling and we had to react. We now have a manufacturing facility in China, over which we have 100% control. This enables us to monitor the quality and standards of products made there. There are some questionable standards in the industry as a result of importing from abroad, but I can assure you that we do not cut corners. We do everything by the book and if that sometimes means our products aren't as rock-bottom cheap as the rest, then so be it. With the Manhattan brand you get the assurance that the product is of a particular standard and quality, whichever part of the world it comes from.

Q What does manufacturing in China mean to your facility here in the UK?

A We're still a proud UK manufacturer and continue to make the bulk of our products here. What our facility in China allows us to do is compete with the cheaper products on the market and continue our product development. It also opens doors for Manhattan in terms of global distribution and has already established strong links within overseas markets. We're trying to make ourselves stronger and less reliant on the UK market by using our overseas manufacturing to access other markets.

Q: How's business for Manhattan?

A: Considering the recessionary conditions, our sales teams recorded pretty good figures for March, April and May and have managed to sign up more than 500 new displays of our latest products. I'm very upbeat about Manhattan and believe that we've taken the right steps to ensure a strong position in the market once the economy starts to improve. We've spent at least £250,000 in the past 12 months on new product development and around £500,000 the year before. Having said all that, the reality is that retail conditions are very tough and I expect some retailers to be a further 20% down on last year. We're going to have to work really hard just to stand still this year. Having launched all of our new products, even if my retail figures are the same this year as they were last year, I think we will have beaten the market by 10%. I feel that will be an achievement and we will have increased our market share by a further 2%. 

Q: You've spent a great deal on new products, can you tell me more about these?

A: We've never been in better shape in terms our product offering and the service we give our retailers because we've reacted to the market, worked really hard and invested a lot in terms of getting our product offering right. We've launched the New Era brand, which offers the same Manhattan quality but is aimed at the lower end of the market. This brand uses our experience and knowledge of the shower market and is proof of our reaction to some of the imported products we've seen come in. We've also upgraded our Manhattan branded products, because the New Era range is as good as the previous Manhattan offering and we needed to justify the price difference between the two.

Q: What's your UK market share?

A: It's very difficult to measure, but I would say that we're running at about 7% of the UK shower door market. I had hoped things couldn't get any worse than last year, but I think conditions for the retail sector are going to get a lot tougher this year. However good your product is, however good your brand awareness is, if that cake is shrinking then you are going to shrink with it. It's all about job security and until that changes, the retail market is going to be very tough. I personally can't see things changing until late 2011 or early 2012. 

Q: There's a huge problem in the industry with internet retailers undercutting high-street studios. What is Manhattan's strategy to deal with this?

A: The internet is a powerful tool and it's never going to go away. We want to help our dealers generate sales from the web. This year we're launching a new website facility that will encourage consumers to buy Manhattan through our display dealers. In terms of cheap internet pricing, Manhattan has a recognised pricing structure in the market-place and we have set guidelines for dealers. We actively try to prevent our products being sold cheaply on the internet, but it is a difficult situation, as it's against the law to be anti-competitive. Distribution is so big in this industry that it's very difficult for us as a manufacturer to control pricing and internet selling. But I have to be honest and say that we get very few problems with it. It's in our interest to have successful and profitable dealers, so we want to do as much to help them as possible. On the other hand, we want consumers to get a good deal on our products. So there's always a double edge to the sword, especially in these tough economic conditions.