Goodness I hadn’t realised just how the time has flown since my last blog. And plenty has happened in the interim, too.
Me with my son Simon, who has now joined the business as co-director
Firstly my son, Simon Hewitt has joined the business, which is very exciting – to have new blood and a new way of thinking invigorating all of us! Simon’s not worked in the furniture sector before – having spent his career the FMCG sector, with senior sales & marketing positions in Procter& Gamble, Diageo and Red Bull. Simon’s influence is already being felt and will no doubt have a major impact on the future development of the business in the UK. To ‘earn his spurs’ in the furniture industry, Simon, who is based in SW London, has taken on his own sales area in the South East, from Kent, south of the Thames across to Dorset and has already opened some good new accounts as well as helping me deal with our national account business.
We’re also absolutely delighted to have recently been approved by AIS as one of their bedroom furniture suppliers and I’d like to thank those members to date which have shown an interest in our range and taken shop floor models from our mid to upper end product choice. The feedback we’re getting is it’s not just the product they are liking but also the proven Home Delivery and Installation service provided by our longstanding partners. We are looking forward to our first AIS show on 29th April.
The Interiors show at the NEC in January set the scene well for 2014. It was a hugely successful show with all our new range offer taken up. It was gratifying to see the level of interest in our mid to top end and VIP ranges as well. We have recently finalised our 2014 collection for independents so new marketing CDs will be ready soon for distribution – we’re told this is a very helpful and informative tool – plus there will be a new brochure ready for the Spring and of course we will be updating the website.
Finally – congratulations to Tom and Charlotte on the birth of Tamsin.