Lisa's Blog

The search continues for best-in-class suppliers
22 October 2010

Two companies which have really embraced the principles of quality, functionality and stunning good looks.

In this blog, I’ve criticised disabled equipment showrooms for being “beyond uninspiring” – however it’s easy to criticise and a lot less easy to provide positive examples and benchmarks.

I’m a big fan of getting out and seeing the latest developments for myself, so I spent last week in London. First on my agenda was CP Hart’s flagship bathroom showroom.  Their vision is to have the best showroom in the UK – and it’s certainly impressive. It’s got an enormous range of displays showing lots of different styles backed by incredibly high quality; it’s well laid out – flowing around in a circuit like an art gallery but what I liked most was the lack of pushy sales people. I was left to my own devices without anyone pestering me until I asked for assistance and a delightful gentleman spent time answering my questions and showing me relevant products.  And while CP Hart may not specialise in ageless design, they certainly know how to deliver inspiring retail.

My next stop was to visit the new showroom of wheelchair accessible kitchen experts, Access Matters. Adam Thomas, their lead designer, is a wheelchair user himself and has been designing wheelchair accessible kitchens for over 25 years. My visit marks the beginning of a new business collaboration between Access Matters and Ruby Slippers and will see their custom-made furniture become available north of the border. They offer a fantastic range of styles and finishes to suit different budgets and, most importantly, cabinets can be made to suit any height, width and depth - so truly customised to individual users’ needs and abilities. Their new showroom installations bring to life the many beautiful features and tiny details, so often overlooked, that combine to deliver stunning, easy to use kitchens. Visit www.dmkbb.co.uk/accessible-kitchens/ to see examples of the Access Matters kitchens that you can now access via Ruby Slippers here in Scotland. 

We're proud to be able to show you we do our research and have once again found best-in-class suppliers that allow us to offer unique and stylish choices to our customers. If you have some ideas on who we should be working with, please let me know through lisa@rubyss.co.uk.