Sales director of Just Taps Plus (JTP), Jeevan Seth talks about Inox and admiring customers

Q: What was your design brief or what were you hoping to achieve with the new Inox range?

A: Inox was launched with the specific aim of attracting the top-end design market. Inox is lead free and until Inox there was very little in the way of stainless steel brassware, so I like to feel we led the market. Inox was born from our track record of stainless steel taps in the kitchen, the bathroom was just the next step. Inox also proved a door opener for us and it has given us great awareness with many retailers and higher-end showrooms that are displaying and retailing this product very well. Interior designers, architects and contractors are also specifying the range having seen it at Sleep and May Design Series.

Q: How did Just Taps Plus start?

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A: When Just Taps Plus first started over 20 years ago, Kuldip Seth (Owner and Founder of JTP) had just one hand-typed A4 sheet of paper to sell bathroom products from his car. Queens, a traditional quarter turn tap range, was our first collection and it was a great success. It remains in our collection and is the cornerstone of the business. Florentine joined the line-up not long after Queens and it too remains popular after over 20 years, thanks to the incredible diversity of pieces. Kuldip still travels the Globe for inspiration, innovation and design influence that is reflected in our current ranges.

Q: If JTP has been in business for over 20 years why have few retailers heard of the business?

A: JTP has built a solid business almost under-the-radar. Through word of mouth alone we have built a business that has traded successfully through two recessions. Now that I am part of the future of JTP I am working with Kuldip and the directors to bring the company into the broader bathroom arena. We have undertaken a number of exhibitions, developed our digital media activity, created new brochures and photography, plus PR.

Q: Which of your customers do you particularly admire for the way they do business?

A: We admire all our customers, without them JTP would not have been the success it is today. I thank all my customers for supporting us over the past 20 years. I think one of the reasons we have been successful is recognising that it is not easy out there especially with web-only-operators undermining the trade. But it is up to businesses like ours to do all we can to help our customers because they are first in the firing line to sell the consumer a competitive priced, quality product. In order to help the end retailer we keep our prices down by operating in a lean way; we don’t have an expensive showroom or wasted warehouse space etc. – in fact we are bursting at the seams as we speak and we will need to consider larger premises soon. But it is up to us to manage the business in such a way that our retailers get the margins they need to be profitable.

Q: What are your predictions for the next twelve months?

A: We are seeing customers return to us after a break of a number of years. This is a great sign and a great sense of achievement that even though our customers use other manufacturers, they have come back to us because they can see what we are doing has real business potential for them. JTP is working on many things, the launch of new products, more shows, expanding our business into new markets. We have received some great feedback from existing and new customers. The future looks very bright indeed.