This year’s kbb Birmingham show saw the official launch of Spanish heritage tap brand Ramonsoler in the UK residential market.
Ramonsoler was first founded near Barcelona in 1890, originally as a manufacturer of taps for wine barrels. According to the company, it now supplies products to over 40 countries worldwide, with the UK residential market being its latest.
kbbreview spoke with Eddie Streader, UK sales agent for Ramonsoler, at the brand’s stand, where he explained that the company’s official UK launch will help improve their lead times.
He said: “We’ve come into the UK as a new product, so part of our research has been asking retailers how we can help them out and what they need. We’ve been able to find out that current delivery times from Spain are too long, at five to eight days. So, we’ve set up a UK distribution centre, which allows us to have the product in stock with next-day delivery.”
Streader explained that Ramonsoler believes it has generated some strong sales leads from its launch at the show.
“We’re really using this to step out into the market in a big way, and reception’s been very positive. We’ve got some good finishes, we’ve got control over products and distribution, and we’re looking for more business partners.”
When asked about the challenges of launching a new brand in the UK given the ongoing economic downturn, Streader said that he believed UK consumers are still heavily invested in home improvement, so he is optimistic about the brand’s future in the UK market.
Over the next 12 months, the company plans to focus its growth efforts on recruiting more display partners. Streader said: “We want to follow up on our leads from the [kbb Birmingham] show, concentrate on the right market sector, and get as many of our display partners on board as we can.
“With that then we’ll expect a turnover. At this stage, we’re not looking to dominate the market, but we’re looking for some good partners – I think 20 or 30 across the UK in the next 12 months would be quite an achievable number.”