The enquiry came at last week’s National Association of Shopfitters gathering to celebrate the best of work done by collaborating contractors and store designers. And the shopfitter that asked it said that turnover had rocketed from£8 million to£20 million during the past year – a performance that might seem to buck the current downward trend in no uncertain manner.
Names such as Game, Marks & Spencer and Tesco were all offered by way of explanation for the growth, but the obvious point still hung in the air. Had this extra business been done at the same margin or was the turnover bought?
The response to this was unusually frank. “Of course margins have been affected: we’re having to run a lot faster these days.” There is still a substantial amount of new retail space due to open this year and next, but retailers and shopfitters can see beyond this.
Over the past few years, much of the work that has been carried out by shopfitters has involved updating tired-looking shops as well as fitting-out new outlets.
But as consumer confidence looks as if it might be hitting some kind of a wall, it may just be that retailers will make do with what they have, while honouring new space commitments where they have previously signed on the dotted line. If this proves to be the case, every part of the store design and build supply chain will find itself having to run very much faster.
Internet auctions where the lowest bid for a store fit-out project have a tendency to win the job are becoming more and more commonplace. In many instances, retailers ask for little more than a history, references and a price and then a decision is made. It’s an admirably economical method of making sure that the pips are squeezed when choosing a firm to turn a designer’s dream into a shopper’s reality.
There is, however, a well-worn adage that you get what you pay for. As the economic climate tightens, it is entirely possible that desperate shopfitters will take on work below cost in the hope of hanging on in.
This will lead to corners being cut and shops being delivered with endless snagging lists that are unlikely to be rectified for no better reason than that the contractor that has done the job is no longer in business.
It seems that now, more than ever, retailers need experienced people on their staff dealing with design and build whose focus is not solely price, however important this may seem.
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