BiKBBI boss blasts Bathstore over installer debt

Damian Walters, CEO of the body representing kitchen and bathroom installers, has pleaded with the industry to do more to protect fitters following Bathstore’s collapse.

His comments come as kbbreview revealed around 225 installers have been left £1.16m out of pocket by the company’s administration.

“This administrator’s report has saddened me from cover to cover,” he said. “It’s clear the unsecured creditors will receive little-to-nothing and once again the small guy takes the biggest hit.

We cannot just accept this, hence the reason we’ve introduced tools for our members to indemnify them against these types of losses.

The industry needs to pay attention to this situation. It’s easy to forgive those who think ‘it’s not my installers’ and ‘Bathstore’s demise means nothing to me’. But if you’re in the KBB industry, either as a supplier, distributor, manufacturer or retailer, it does affect you. Installers will choose not to serve this industry if we simply allow this to happen, time and time again – and it’s these installers we rely upon to deliver our products and service.

This just underlines the need to protect installers and safeguard the future of our industry. We need to collectively get behind the protection of our assets or risk the loss of thousands of great tradespeople.”

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