John Presents ‘Why we Manufacture in Britain’
As a British manufacturer, Roman were approached by the North East Chamber of Commerce and asked to present at a breakfast morning about why we manufacture our Shower Enclosures in the UK. This is something which we have seen become very topical lately, with a range of companies now bringing their manufacturing back to UK shores. Our Operations Director, John Wright, went along to give our reasons why we prefer to manufacture in the UK. Here’s a behind the scenes look at the presentation…
Haven Range – One of the main focusses of the presentation was our Haven range of affordable Shower Enclosures. Haven was launched in response to a flood of very low cost products entering the market from overseas. It is the only range of Shower Enclosures we have ever manufactured outside of the UK. In 2010 we began the process of moving the manufacture of this range back to our main factory in the North East of England. There were a number of factors as to why we brought it home, which John explained.
Product Compatibility – as a British designer and manufacturer we understand the typical restrictions of the UK bathroom. Often it is a small space to work with and walls may be out of true. We create solution bathroom products which are designed to help overcome these restrictions.
Product Suitability – we understand our nation’s bathroom habits and our demographics. The bathroom is somewhere we retreat to so we want it to look stylish and relaxing. We are an aging populations, so we want a bathroom design which makes life easier.
John Presents to the NECC
Flexibility – for our network of retailers UK wide we can supply products quickly and with small minimum order quantities. We can also offer a tailor made design service, for customers looking for something specific.
Responsiveness – UK consumers are very savvy and are always quick to tell us what they would like out of a bathroom design. As a designer and manufacturer we need to be able to react quickly to meet these needs.
Product Quality – We carefully monitor the quality of our products and can see them at every stage of the design process.
Customer Service – our Customer Service team are trained on the design, build and installation of our products, so can answer any technical query that may come up. They have quick and easy access to the manufacturing team, as well as the Design team should they have any particularly unusual enquiries.
John Concluding the Presentation
Minimising Impact on the Environment – this is both in terms of shipping emissions and more stringent legislation for UK manufactures.
Social Responsibility – both in terms of job and wealth creation, but we also offer apprenticeship opportunities and work experience opportunities.
John concluded the presentation with details about the Stoves’ Made in Britain campaign, which we have backed since they first launched the Made in Britain Marque. This is something we now use across all marketing material and product packaging, to highlight our products are Made in Britain, as this becomes increasingly sought after.