Exhibitor interview: Deborah Lucas, marketing director, Elstead Lighting
Q: Why should retailers come to shows like this? What are the benefits to them?
A: To keep up-to-date with innovation within the industry and find new ways to offer added-value sales opportunities to their captive clients.
Q: How’s business compared with last year?
A: The uncertainty of the Brexit outcome certainly slowed down enquiries from builders and contractors, but after the December election we have seen green shoots appear again to continue our growth.
Q: How do you think the relationship between supplier and customer is changing?
A: Customers are always looking for more efficient and lean ways of providing quality product in the speediest time possible. Elstead holds very deep stock of catalogue items and ships same day 95% of the time. With our 50 years of manufacturing history, we look to offer the expertise in providing quality bathroom and kitchen lighting. We also look to form partnerships rather than have transactional relationships, so that we can design bespoke product for clients that want to offer their customers something unique in style to differentiate them from the competition.
Q: What are the main challenges you will face as a business this year and how will you overcome these?
A: As with everyone, we await the changes that lay ahead with Brexit. As an importer and exporter to Europe and beyond, we will navigate our way through the challenges that lie ahead, but will do all we can to still provide quality and timely product to our customers.