Summary
• JB Kind was founded in 1870.
• Door distribution started in the 1980s.
• Six new ranges and a veneer effect paint finish have been launched.
• A new DIY door allows consumers design freedom.
• A Merchant Partnership scheme has grown sales.
On arriving at Burton-upon-Trent’s railway station, it’s impossible not to be aware of the town’s famed brewery heritage.
The steam rising from the nearby Coors brewery reminds you of a heyday which once boasted a dozen brewers in the town.
Door distributor JB Kind, the reason for TTJ’s visit, was based here for most of its life and in its boardroom (at its nearby Swadlincote distribution hub), paintings depict the company’s late 19th century origins, including the iconic Dallow Lane mill, crates manufactured for Marston’s Brewery and its steam-powered delivery trucks, which are apparently now popular Matchbox collectors’ items.
Founded in 1870, JB Kind has developed from a timber merchant, sawmiller, pallet and crate manufacturer into one of the UK’s leading door distributors.
The company has been busy of late, launching six new ranges this year, a new veneer-effect paint finish, the “first” design-your-own Shaker-style door which allows end-users to make their own designs, as well as continuing work with specifiers and architects.
“It’s great to be part of a brand with heritage,” said James Cadman, who took over as managing director last summer.
“We do have a valued brand and a known brand in the market and now we are setting out to re-energise it.”
Using his expertise in the building product distribution business, Mr Cadman said JB Kind was eschewing the traditional timber product business model, embracing technology and becoming a lean and efficient company with a focus on design so it could offer something “different” in the door sector.
“We like to be market-leading, rather than market-following,” said Mr Cadman, “The success of the JB Kind brand has been based around that since 1986.”
Back then it started its door distribution business by importing doors from Spain. It still uses the same Spanish factory today, where its flagship Royale brand is made, while also sourcing from other countries including South Africa, Brazil and the Far East.
In the top three
Now it is one of the top three door distributors in the UK (not including manufacturers Premdor and Jeld-Wen), with an annual turnover of £10m and employing 43 staff, including seven field-based sales representatives.
JB Kind, a member of the BWF-Certifire Fire Door &?Doorset Scheme and TRADA, does not manufacture these days – the pallet manufacturing business in Burton was separated by owner the Whirlowdale Group in 2007 to allow JB Kind to focus on door distribution.
About £3m worth of stock – roughly 70,000 doors – is carried at Swadlincote in a purpose-built 35,000ft² hub, including a large showroom, where established favourites such as the VP7 and Yoxall oak veneered doors can be viewed.
Door cores are generally laminated wood, chipboard, honeycomb or moulded hardboard.
Mr Cadman said JB Kind was working hard with architects, designers and specifiers in order to live up to its catchline of “Doors in Vogue”, which is emblazoned on delivery fleet vehicles, as well brochures.
The new Inspiration range sums this up well.
Unorthodox and unusual, Inspiration is designed to get designers thinking, showing what is possible when various wood veneers are used in different ways on the same door.
“It’s the wow product,” said Mr Cadman. “This is showing the market place that there’s the technology to do this and giving them some options.”
The Inspiration “Nirvana” hollow core door (FD30 solid core also available) has a walnut veneer with partly offset ash and oak veneer vertical strips.
Inspiring designers
With alternative veneer combinations, more creative designs and glazed options possible, JB Kind is aiming to excite designers and provide new ways of linking doors with other aspects of room design, such as wooden floors.
Another new range, Eco Flush, uses new painting technology to create a veneer effect at a fraction of the cost of wood veneer. The grain-effect finish is applied on the MDF substrate by a patterned roller, which the company says provides a consistent colour and design match.
The products give merchants the ability to sell a more expensive-looking product without an expensive price tag.
JB Kind is also adding some spice to popular white doors with new additions to the existing Limelight range featuring unusual designs.
Other new additions include three Shaker-style ranges – Montana, Calypso and Shakerpine – while Walnut Flash is an affordable answer to the increasing popularity of walnut.
The company has also just launched the UK’s “first” design-your-own Shaker-style door kit, which allows consumers to create two, three, four or five panel designs to their own taste.
A video on the JB Kind website shows Mr Cadman demonstrating how easy the pine core/MDF face product is to assemble, with no nails, screws or dowels required.
“We are very excited to be the first UK door supplier to pioneer such a new and innovative product for the DIY door market,” he said. “DIY enthusiasts now have the opportunity to influence their own door designs, whilst still keeping within budget.”
But having the right product portfolio is only part of the business equation. Getting the product to customers in an efficient way is crucial, Mr Cadman added.
Fast response
“The market place has seen considerable challenges and we know the whole of the construction sector is faced with a difficult challenge. The reduction of stock levels throughout the supply chain has placed the emphasis on fast response and flexibility to the supplier, rather than the stockist,” he said.
“The market has reshaped itself post-credit crunch,” added JB Kind sales director Gordon Nelson. “Our merchant customers are looking to come to one company who supplies everything, from high-end doors to the bottom end and they want a fantastic response time as well,” he said.
“From a portfolio point of view, we are covering all the market place,” added Mr Cadman. “But our major focus is the premium end of the market.”
The established focus on higher-end ranges was expanded to cover the lower-end commodity door market following the acquisition of parts of STP Group from administrators in 2008. This including STP’s Wakefield factory, although this facility later closed.
At the time, the factory purchase reduced JB Kind’s dependency on dollar-based imports during financially volatile times, while giving the company a range of Certifire-approved fire doors.
Merchants represent a main supply channel and the company has signed up more than 25 customers representing 90 branches to its Merchant Partners joint marketing initiative.
Under the partnership JB Kind and merchants work together on joint initiatives, while taking part in national promotions, as well as receiving point of sale material and product training.
“A positive increase in business is already evident, resulting in a bigger penetration of the market place for JB Kind,” said Mr Nelson. “It’s about trying to make sure the merchants fully realise the potential of their door business. More and more merchant partners are expanding their displays of joinery products. For many years, the merchant has relied on the builder just buying standard joinery items.”
Driving brand awareness
The internet is also being used to drive brand awareness, with Twitter and Facebook links, blogs, e-brochure downloads and e-marketing.
One recent blog focused on doors being seen as part of the insulated fabric of the building, rather than just for aesthetics and functional use, and linking to the JB Kind Part L-compliant Therm-L range.
Diagnostics software shows that a sizeable proportion of people are downloading its online brochure by iPhone or iPad. Apps are being considered as a possible future development.
“The more people we can entice to use our website, the more it drives business to our customers,” said Mr Cadman. “The way people search for products online is a natural part of life now. We have to embrace it to grow business.”
Looking forward, JB Kind will be exhibiting again at the Homebuilding & Renovating Show in Birmingham on March 29-April 1 to further tap increasing self-build business.
And tentative plans exist for regional events involving merchant customers, with invitations to architects and builders.
Mr Nelson said the changing market was driving new products, which was “exciting” for JB Kind. “I think the development of doorsets and doorkits will also grow and we will develop that with our supplier factories.”
“I’m personally very optimistic for this year,” adds Mr Cadman. “The market is stabilising and we’re seeing private housebuilding beginning to show some sort of increase. But it’s about consumer confidence.”
