News Release,
April 23, 2005
UK Kitchen
& Bathroom Distributors Market
The AKTRIN
Furniture Information Center, in collaboration with AMA Research Staff have released the
2005 edition of the UK Kitchen & Bathroom Distributors Market.
This new study presents some interesting findings and conclusions.
The kitchen and bathroom
distributor market is substantial at over ?00 turnover at distributors prices in 2004,In
2003, the kitchen and bathroom sectors remained buoyant and continued to experience
relatively healthy levels of growth. This was partly due to house price inflation
acting as a positive driver for a number of consumer durable markets, supported by high
levels of mortgage advances for home improvements. Additionally, the housing market
continued to perform well during 2003 and the level of new house build completions
increased slightly, both factors supporting the market.
A further factor influencing
the market has been the continued growth of the self-build sector, where high quality
fittings tend to be installed. In 2004, rising interest rates and further
speculation of a significant fall in house prices dampened consumer confidence somewhat,
and this had a knock on effect on consumer spending.
There has been increased
pressure on pricing and margins in the market over the past 2 years due to the growth of
the DIY multiples in the bathroom sector, in addition to the growth of imports. However,
the distributors have in general managed to maintain margins by offering more own branded
ranges, and increasing service levels.
In addition to these issues,
one of the most important factors has been the continued focus on design and trading up in
terms of kitchen and bathroom fittings. To satisfy this there has been an increased
number of products made available to satisfy the demand, allowing the distributors to add
value by stocking a comprehensive range of products and brands particularly niche and
specialist varieties.
The
leading companies are The PJH Group, which operates through Hopkinsons Fourways.
They are traditionally strong in the kitchen appliance and furniture sectors and are also
leaders in the bathroom market.
The national distributors now
account for 59% of the market, led by PJH. Other major nationals are PWS, BDC, Ideal,
Allied, AHED, Arrow, Maurice Lay and Galley Matrix.
The key distributors in the kitchen sector include PJH, PWS, Mark Two, Waterline,
Allied, BDC, Broughton Crangrove, Stearn, William Ball, Galley Matrix and Arrow. In
the bathroom and shower sector the key companies are PJH, Mark Two, Ideal Bathrooms,
Broughton Crangrove and AHED.
The larger regional
distributors account for around 32% of the market while local distributors are estimated
to have declined to account for some 9%.
Bathroom products continue to
account for the greatest share of distributors' business with 38% followed by kitchen
furniture with 27%, shower products, kitchen appliances and others. Within bathroom
products, baths and sanitaryware take the largest share with 48%, followed by accessories
and brassware.
In the kitchen appliance
sector, distributors still only account for a small share due to the dominance of the
electrical multiples. However, there has been an increasing demand for larger,
higher value kitchen appliances such as ange cookers and larder fridges etc, allowing the
distributors to maintain share of the freestanding market.
The kitchen and bathroom
distributors have two major customer groups, the kitchen and bathroom retail specialists
which account for 46% of the distributors sales and the builders merchants with 33%.
Others include DIY outlets, other retailers such as department stores, electrical
independents and contractors.
For more information, click http://www.furniture-info.com/1038.htm |
