Wayne Dance of In-House, agent for Schuller and Aster kitchens, Pelipal bathrooms and Nolte Delbrook bedrooms

How's business?

We've had two fantastic years after dipping by a £1 million in 2009. I thought last year would be harder but we were 21% up. The recession has worked more for us than against us. When the recession bit, our reps were suddenly more welcome at the Siematic and Hacker showrooms because their retailers were looking for answers. We have a price advantage. I already had Schuller kitchens and that led me to thinking I needed German bathrooms and bedrooms. We've opened up 40 stores with Pelipal on the bathroom side and on the bedroom side we've taken on Nolte Delbrook.
 
How's that going?

I've got more excitement for that than anything to do with kitchens and bathrooms at the moment. Apparently there's a £500m turnover in the bedroom market. We've got an established brand with Schuller. It's a way for the dealers to target their clientele and get them back in.
We wanted a one-stop shop. We'd dabbled with Italian bedrooms but they were too high-priced. So we went with Pelipal and Nolte Delbrook. I can buy a bedroom suite for €1,000 and they can sell that for three or four grand and it's still cheaper than anyone else. It's a market that a lot of people are missing out on that they should be looking to exploit. You've got one kitchen per house, at least two bathrooms, and usually four or five bedrooms. Why let that client go somewhere else when you've already done a great job for them on the kitchen?
With UK manufacturers like Hammonds and Duval there hasn't been the choice but we can benefit. By bringing in a bedroom that's a quarter of the price of people like Hulsta we've got the answer to people's prayers. We've let the Brits commandeer the bedroom market.

How's the Aster kitchens side going?

It works well by bringing people in to buy Schuller. We're now looking for 12 dealers to do it properly. We're hitting Edinburgh and London. It's a niche market.
 
Is the market polarising?

Yes, but because it's been squeezed it's pushed people into us. We've got a BMW, Mercedes quality product for the price of a Ford Fiesta. And we can be entry level if you want. Last week I beat Howdens on price and there was still profit in it. A lot of component people have had their own way for a long time - the likes of PWS with Second Nature. But the problem is there's no exclusivity with it. That's worked for us because we offer a protected area with Schuller.
 
Where are other kitchen manufacturers going wrong, would you say?

Some people offer silly incentives like free displays. What happens if it all goes wrong? You're not going to get your money back. I had a retailer recently who came to me to do a deal. His idea was to change displays every three months. He wanted me to offer him free displays and I quickly ended the conversation. He wanted to be wealthy at everyone else's expense.