Protection and warranties

Strengthened

Guardsman has seen a change in consumer behavour

Guardsman has widened its product offer

Despite the pandemic continuing to cause issues worldwide, the Guardsman UK team reports that it has had one of its ‘best ever years’.

‘Despite the obvious challenges, so many good things have come out of 2021 and we hope they continue,’ says David Evans, Guardsman sales director. ‘In the past year we strengthened our risk and compliance team, which is particularly important as the FCA focuses more and more on this sector and the value that customers receive from their insurance products.

‘Most recently we are thrilled to have appointed Rob Dyer as Guardsman UK md. Rob is a great addition, with his previous experience enabling him to join the team with a great understanding of the insurance industry, and the FCA.’

‘What I’ve been impressed with since I started is the overwhelming desire from the team to want the business to grow, improve and expand. We have a very customer-focused team who have built solid foundations to create a strong and successful business. I can see that there are a lot of things they already do brilliantly, which we can use as a springboard for the future,’ says Dyer.

‘We’ve strengthened our relationships with our retailers by working with them to navigate the necessary changes to better provide and demonstrate the value of our products to customers. Our continued partnerships with them are vitally important and together we have found the best solutions – adding extra value for both them and their customers.’

‘We’ve had a great response from our retailers, cementing partnerships even further. We now offer a complete Guardsman care package including new and improved premium furniture care kits, which are flying off the shelves. Consumers want to look after their furniture, and we’ve noticed a real difference in buying habits, shifting even more towards caring for and maintaining furniture,’ says Evans.

Not only has the company launched a new premium kit range, including a specialist kit for aniline leather, but it has also increased its offering for other furniture items within the home to include stone care products, and is planning to introduce additional products into the range.

‘I would like to thank everyone in the Guardsman UK team for their continued support throughout the year and to thank our retailers who have worked with us to continue really great partnerships. I’ve joined the Guardsman team at an exciting time, and I’m really keen to see what 2022 will bring for us. Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2022,’ says Dyer. Visit: www.guardsman.co.uk

Rob Dyer

Standing ready

Castelan has continued to develop products that add value

‘All of us at Castelan would like to wish you a very happy 2022 and we hope it’s also a prosperous and, more importantly, healthy one for all of us,’ says Martin Napper, Castelan Group ceo.

‘The past two years have certainly had their challenges but it’s been great to see how the furniture industry, and its partners, have pulled together. Here at Castelan, we have continued to develop all areas of our business and we stand ready to support existing and new clients with products and services that can really add value.’ 2021 saw Castelan redesign and relaunch its PremierCare warranty scheme as well as other bespoke, clientspecific schemes.

‘Our insured protection plans already covered the vast majority of accidents. However, based on customer feedback, market demand and regulatory changes, we have launched a product with market-leading coverage that meets the requirements of the FCA. This is especially important as we move into 2022, where we are all submitting Value Measures Reporting. Our schemes are tailored to meet the needs of your customer base, making them appropriate to the customer and relatable for your colleagues to understand and sell,’ says Napper.

‘At a time when order books are full and pipelines are bursting, it’s ever more important to have a service partner that is responsive, structured and is an extension of the service you expect to deliver. Our Furniture Care Network delivers, once you have delivered – with fast response times, real-time reporting, high first-visit fix rates and detailed management information.

‘We are now able to offer a range of small, medium and large care kits for leather, fabric, cabinet and carpet. We have a great range of PremierCare branded kits and can also brand to your own identity with logos and images. These products offer tremendous additional value to the customer as well as increasing your average transaction value: a win–win situation. We also offer a range of UK-sourced mattress protectors, which again are a valuable add-on product when selling beds.

‘Our commercial services division CCS was busy in the lead-up to the Christmas season, providing key support to a host of leisure industry clients. We offer a wide range of services from leather and upholstery refurbishment to bathroom refreshes, carpet cleaning, provision of casement goods and cabinetry repairs.’ Visit: www.castelangroup.com

Be safe

Increased working from home means more chance of damage

‘Working from home and social isolation have unleashed a frenzy of home makeovers. People are doing all those projects they’d previously planned but never had the time to complete. New furniture, new flooring, new rooms… families all need places for working from home and for school homework,’ says Gill Finch, Stroolmount md.

‘Here’s your opportunity: protection. Covid-19 teaches us that we should be prepared with protection. And the same goes in the home. Whether the trade installs new furniture or flooring, or customers redecorate rooms, furniture and flooring need keeping apart. When they meet, harm can happen: flooring gets scratched, scraped, dented and chipped; furniture weakens when dragged across a floor – carpet fibres anchor the feet and joints fatally lurch to one side.

‘A single scratch can mean thousands of pounds in repairs and damage claims, angry customers, an even angrier manager as the profit is down or even wiped out. Plus, all the extra paperwork and hassle of putting it right – and the next job’s delayed too. Even afterwards, it’s not forgotten: you’ve the excess to pay and hikes in your insurance premiums for next year.’

So many problems could easily be avoided, thanks to simple protection from Stroolmount, says Finch. ‘Our Protect & Care products safeguard your floor, your furniture, your back and your business. Since 2007 our specialist protection products have saved business thousands of pounds in repairs with solutions from as little as 1p. At that low price, you can’t risk not caring for your flooring, furniture and your business.

‘Self-adhesive Felt cushions the impact of furniture to prevent scratching on floors, while Quickclick Glides, Move-it Pads and Furni-glides allow heavy furniture to be moved smoothly across hard floors and especially carpets. Furni-glides are made from PTFE (better known as Teflon) and there’s a special version for heavyweight recliner sofas and chairs that makes them easy to move and clean around.

‘Should the worst happen, our Furniture and Floor Repair Kits restore showroom good looks to solid woods, veneers, laminates and even vinyl, for a fraction of the cost of French polishing.

‘There’s nothing virtual about the opportunity for the trade. Stroolmount’s Protect and Care products offer real benefits, real customer loyalty and real increases in vital sales. Or show an exceptional level of care beyond the sale by giving them away as promotional freebies. Include them as add-on checkout options, give them away as promotional items or even advertise a brand with own-label versions.’ Visit: www.stroolmount.co.uk

Furni-glides in action; Self-adhesive Felt and POS

Sale time

Sales results have increased since Greenwood Retail adapted its strategy after learning from the pandemic

Changes to promotion strategies are delivering results

‘Greenwood Retail’s clients can testify that our high-impact sales promotion strategies can generate 25% to 100% of your annual turnover, depending on the nature of your event and other variable factors, with high margin maintained in just 17 days’ trading,’ says Bernard Eaton, Greenwood Retail md.

Greenwood Retail is a sales promotion company that specialises in organising high-profile retail sales events, on behalf of quality independent retailers, all over the UK and Republic of Ireland. Many of its clients are members of AIS or Minerva.

‘We ran 25 Greenwood sales events between the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, on the instruction of our clients, and every event proved a sensational success. It’s proof that consumers will accept the realities of price increases and delayed delivery, provided the sales event is marketed effectively.’

Changes to the Greenwood Retail marketing model, forced by Covid-19 retail restrictions, actually had the effect of generating higher sales results than the original methodology – to everyone’s surprise and delight.

‘These evolutionary changes have been retained and incorporated into the latest Greenwood sales promotion strategies. It seems true that we grow more from times of difficulty than from times of ease,’ says Eaton. ‘After nearly 20 years in the business and with well over 1,000 Greenwood sales events across the UK and Ireland completed, Greenwood has far more experience of planning and organising retail sales in this marketplace than any other sales company in the world. This means that no other sales promotion company is better qualified to help independent UK and Irish retailers get the best out of their next big sales event.’

Greenwood Retail will be exhibiting at the January Furniture Show. Visit: www.greenwoodretail.com

VISIT US AT THE JANUARY FURNITURE SHOW 2022 HALL 1, STANDS E40, F40 & G40