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Accountants Advise Bathroom Fittings Firm

A Coventry–based supplier of bathroom fittings to the rich and famous is on target for a 40 per cent growth in sales this year.

Accountants advice bathroom fittings firm

Accountants advice bathroom fittings firm

Dornbracht UK, whose German parent company manufactures high-quality design fittings, accessories and interiors for bathrooms and kitchens worldwide, is the fastest growing of Dornbracht’s European subsidiaries.

With sales already standing at £1.7 million for the first quarter of this year, the company is well on target for a £6 million turnover, more than 40 per cent higher than last year’s total of £4.2 million, which itself was 24 per cent up on the previous 12 months.

Sales and marketing director Mark Booth said: “Our growth has made us the Number 1 Dornbracht sales operation in Europe (outside of Germany) and we are still the fastest growing, selling through a network of more than 160 ‘partners’ (exclusive bathroom and kitchen showrooms) throughout the UK.”

Catering for the top end of the market, Dornbracht's products are used in the luxury homes – and luxurious yachts – of the some of the world’s richest businessmen and most famous celebrities.

Their fittings are also used in top London hotels, such as the Ritz Carlton and Dorchester, as well as exclusive London apartment blocks where a unit sells for more than £4 million.
Dornbracht products also feature in prestigious offices, such as the O2 headquarters and the Allied Irish Bank in Dublin.

Mr Booth originally set up the UK business for Dornbracht in 2002. It began as a very small operation but had grown sufficiently by September 2005 to necessitate the German parent company looking to appoint a firm of business advisers and accountants.
“One of their prime concerns was to unravel the UK’s corporate laws and they approached a number of accountancy firms in the region before selecting Prime Pilleys in Coventry, who had experience of working for other European companies and organisations with subsidiaries in the UK.”

Jamie Skelding, a partner with Prime Pilleys, said: “They were looking for a firm capable of setting up their whole UK accounting system and then administering it, including controlling the BACS payments and wages. But, most importantly, they wanted a firm who could quickly turnaround sales data and prepare detailed monthly management accounts for Germany. This information is extremely time-sensitive and we work very closely with the Germans on the preparation of monthly reports.”

With the business now well structured, sales grew at such a pace that by January last year Dornbracht UK needed to move into new offices on the Bow Court business park in Coventry. Then, with continued rapid growth, it became necessary in March this year to double their office space.

“We have now established a major presence here in the UK, and the up-market and niche bathroom and kitchen companies we supply like that,” said Mr Booth. “They like the fact that there is a team here with expert product knowledge that they can talk to – and who will listen to them. We put more area sales managers on the road and then began grading our partners into ‘premium studio’, ‘studio’ and ‘authorised dealer’. We closed 41 accounts last year and it was the best thing we did because it showed we were serious and it made the other partners get behind our product more.

“We are still very new, but we are launching additional products in September at the 100% Design Exhibition at Earls Court in London and we will be opening a training centre next month (July) to train our partners in product knowledge.”

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