In this edition we caught up with the new Managing Director of Roca UK & Ireland, Rashpal Sidhu, to hear all about his career, thoughts on the cost of living crisis and Roca’s plans for next year.
Q. Congratulations on your new role as MD of Roca! How does it feel to be stepping into the shoes of Alan Dodds as MD after 15 years as UK Finance and Service Director for Roca?
Thank you very much! I have always been heavily involved in all areas of the company so am confident that the change has and will continue to be seamless. As such, to describe the impact of my new role, I have used the phrase ‘evolutionary rather than revolutionary’.
Q. You’ve led a very successful career in the bathroom world driving the strategic direction of Roca, and overseeing the company’s finance, customer service and warehouse operations; how has the industry changed over the years in your eyes?
Roca Group now has a large market share and our ability to meet changing retail and consumer needs has been a huge help in achieving this. Some of the key changes are reflected in our exciting new collections that address consumer interest in hygiene, sustainability, and affordability without sacrificing good looks.
Q. Who have been the biggest influences in your career?
Several people have influenced my career, but none more so than former MD, Alan Dodds. Working with him for over 15 years has been hugely beneficial to me, and a fantastic learning curve. Alan allowed a great deal of autonomy, with just the right level of advice when needed.
Q. Describe a typical day in your life
Once I have my first coffee, I check emails on my phone, followed by Teams calls with my leadership teams, then maybe a customer call, and there are some calls with my European colleagues too. Before you know it, the day is over and it feels like all I’ve done is video meetings!
Q. We can imagine you’ve had many career highlights over the years, but which would you say is your favourite?
I am most proud of Roca’s stellar growth, which has been the making of many successful careers.
Q. Roca recently launched its new high-performance collection, Ona, which is inspired by the Mediterranean. Tell us more about the key features of the range and why you believe it will be popular with consumers.
Ona is a complete bathroom collection comprising of sanitaryware, brassware, furniture and accessories in a Mediterranean-inspired finish. All the pieces in the collection speak the same design language, to create a bathroom that has a coordinated look.
Q. You’ve incorporated several different innovations into the Ona collection, such as Fineceramic® and Stonex® materials, the Everlux finish, and Supraglaze® coating. Why is bath tech important to Roca?
It is important that our products are innovative and feature new technologies to improve the homeowner’s experience, as well as be kinder to the environment. As a group, all our brands are fully committed to manufacturing products that will stand the test of time. For instance, brassware with a quality finish – which doesn’t age or develop a patina – can only be good for the environment because consumers keep their brassware for longer, therefore reducing wastage.
Q. You recently developed a new retail strategy. Can you briefly tell us what this entails and how you hope the new strategy will benefit retailers, and their customers?
We understand the power of having our products on display, which is why we have developed our new Roca Retail Showroom programme. The retail strategy is designed to support all our loyal customers to ensure that we remain a desirable brand.
Q. The cost-of-living crisis is going to impact many across the UK. What would your advice be to retailers to support their customers?
Retailers should ensure that their customers buy the right product so they get value for their purchase – obviously I would say that this should be our brands! But for the reasons I’ve outlined above, our products offer a quality and longevity that many others don’t, particularly cheaper products that quickly need replacing.
Q. What are your plans for Roca in 2023?
We are all concerned about the economic outlook for 2023. However, this year we’ve made significant investments in new ranges like Ona, the expansion of our BDM sales team with a focus on specialists in their respective field, and a new retail strategy. I’m confident that we’ll start to see the benefits of these in 2023, resulting in another rewarding year.
Looking forward, we have further very exciting new product development in the pipeline that we will be showing at ISH 2023. We are also continuing to reduce our water consumption
in manufacturing and the Roca Group aims to reach water neutrality within five years.
Q. If you were shipwrecked on a desert island, what three things would you want to have with you?
A Star Trek holodeck, a food replicator and – of course – Arsenal FC!