Speaking exclusively with kbbreview at this year’s kbb Show, BagnoDesign business development manager Darren Blackburn says the Dubai-based brand is looking to increase its UK presence to around 120 retail showroom partners.
According to Blackburn, over the past 18 months, the Sanipex-owned BagnoDesign brand has restructured its retail channel strategy, looking to purposefully increase its retail partners to hit the target number.
He explained: “We’ve opted to really back our bricks and mortar showrooms, working specifically with selected retailers in certain geographic areas, because we want to work in partnership with our retailers rather than taking a scattergun approach.
“We know our products are particularly unique, and if we can find the right retailers who we align with, that really bodes well for decent business growth. We essentially become specialists for them – it’s very much a partnership – and we’ve found that that strategy’s gone from strength to strength, and we’re really starting to see some of the fruits of our labour now.”
Over the past year, BagnoDesign has announced several internal appointments for roles specifically targeting retail partner growth. For instance, Blackburn himself was appointed earlier this year, and Rebecca Sykes was named as new retail area sales manager for the North in July. Nick Taylor was also appointed as BagnoDesign’s national retail account manager in late 2024.
Discussing the expansion in more detail, Blackburn said: “A major part of our presence at the kbb Show this year is to draw some more retailers in from the North, where we’re looking to grow our presence, but also to bolster my area in the South. We’ve also just put a member of staff over in Ireland to act as an agent in that market, and we’re also looking at some very promising areas in Scotland as well.”
“Ideally, we’re looking to get to about 120 retailers in total, and we’re at around 85 at the moment. But we work with some really dedicated partners, and we know that there’s some really good business out there.”
