Experts have warned retailers that rushed jobs by installers may speed up completion times but could cost retailers their reputation in the long run.
Damian Walters, chief executive of the British Institute of Kitchen, Bedroom and Bathroom Installation (BiKBBi), and Mark Conacher, managing director of Liberty Fitting Service in Dundee, spoke on The kbbreview Podcast about how retailers can help protect their good reputations.
According to Walters, the BiKBBi’s network of installers have revealed that the average lead times are stretching into December, with some retailers unable to book fitters until early next year.
During the podcast, Walters urges retailers to be honest with customers and not compromise on quality. He said: “When you get people in place at pace, quality will always suffer as a result, and we see that in normal peak trading. But these are extortionary times, and it will be magnified if we get things wrong. So retailers need to be honest with themselves and with their customers and say that quality installers are not available.”
As a KBB installation business owner, Conacher also understands that it can be tempting to ask your fitters to work faster to keep up with consumer demand. However, he warns that this can affect overall standards of work.
He explained: “You spend all of this time trying to build up this reputation for your company. Then suddenly, because of the pressure you feel from every angle, it is so easy for us to push this on to our installers and say ‘you have to work quickly and keep going’. But this isn’t right. All it is going to do is screw up our reputation, and it doesn’t take much.
“That can happen as an industry if we start pushing and everyone starts rushing through. So we have to keep the standards high and keep that balance.”
Walters believes that doing rushed jobs could be “catastrophic” for the industry and individual companies. He said: “The net results can be catastrophic. Not only locally with individual installers, but as an industry it could be problematic, with industry reputations knocked on their back.
“I hate to be pessimistic, as there is much that is good, but we’ve got a perfect storm of issues that challenge our industry. We must be all mindful, respectful and accepting of that, because we have many people under a lot of pressure.”
The skills shortage in the industry was not started because of Covid or Brexit, but Walters believes that these two national and global changes have exposed the installer crisis. In addition, Walters cites the lack of vocational education over the past 20 years as a reason for the lack of new talent.
Conacher spoke on the podcast about his recent experience trying to hire new installers. After a while, he withdrew the job advert as he found no one had the skills and expertise he needed, and he believes it is better not to hire someone than to hire a person without the right skills.
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