Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Cookware supplier Ad Charterhouse says it is now poised to become a significant player in the UK market, having acquired a cutlery supplier and currently building its first sales team.
Charterhouse is owned by Linkfair – which it says is the largest cookware manufacturer in China – and has been supplying the UK market since 2008. It offers cookware in stainless steel, tri-ply copper and die-cast aluminium, and the parent has now acquired CS-Kochsysteme, the German cutlery and knives specialist.
Charterhouse says this is the first time the German company has had a UK partner, and the products made their UK debut at this week’s Autumn Fair alongside the cookware offer.
The company is also recruiting a salesforce for the first time. From October 1 two new representatives – one covering the east and one for the west – will come on board, and the company is also looking to recruit one in the north. It is hoping too to appoint an agent for Scotland.
“We have the product and now we can go out and sell it through our own recognised salesforce,” managing director John Morris told HousewaresLive.net. “The excitement for me now is having a full team around me. A one-man band has gone to a full team overnight!”
He said a major benefit offered by Charterhouse comes from the fact that it is owned by the manufacturer. “We have 97% of stock in the UK at the moment – that’s where we differ,” he said. He added that the company would now be targeting independents in particular.
