Jack Miller

Tell me a little bit about your background and why you started Millora Bathrooms. What gap in the market were you trying to fill?

Jack: I started off selling accessible bathrooms for a company called Fitray of London. They were into high-end hospitality, which is quite a niche because normally, accessible bathrooms are commercial and chrome; whereas these were quite design-led.

After that, I worked as a project merchant, selling to high-end hospitality, commercial, and residential projects.

Project merchants in the industry are quite often selected at the estimate stage, not at the design stage. By then, often it's too far down the line to change things and make sure everything's right.

The gap in the market I saw was someone who can see the entire process right through from start to finish. So we pick up on the little things that most people would miss from the design stage, and ensure that the project meets every requirement . 

Quite often, we get specifications a little bit too late into the project, and we can spot several things that should have been changed at the design stage. So it's about building the relationship with the designers and making sure that we see it right through to delivery on site.

How long did you plan before moving your idea into action?

Jack: I’d always wanted to start my own business, and the job I was in just felt like the right time to leave. So I thought, why not give it a shot and see what I can do. 

I'd already proven my performance in getting sales across the line, so I didn't have any doubts about being able to do that. Strange as that sounds, I think I was more fearful of not actually trying it than I was of trying and failing.

Did you have any contingencies set up before you took the plunge?

Jack: To be honest, no. I was pretty confident that it would pick up traction from the get-go, and it has. We've already secured a number of projects. 

You work across both hospitality and commercial projects, as well as luxury residential homes. What are the biggest differences in client expectations that you see?

Jack: I think people’s current perceptions between these markets can be slightly misleading. 

Most people think hospitality projects are going to be more difficult. However, I'd probably flip that over and say residential ones are.

Normally a residential project has five or six bathrooms, and they want them all different. It's their personal home, so they're a lot more specific with needs, and they want to choose everything for every single room.

Whereas in hospitality,if you have a 50-bed hotel, normally at least 40 of the rooms are identical. So you're actually only designing and specifying one room. 

Obviously, hospitality comes with its own challenges — it’s a longer journey, sometimes up to three or four years from actually designing the project to getting it delivered on site. Also phasing deliveries is a challenge: you have to make sure that you're doing it floor by floor or scheme by scheme. 

So these later stages of hospitality can be a little bit more challenging than residential projects. But my personal preference would be a 100-bed hotel over a five-bedroom residential house. 

I suppose it totally depends on the client and the project, their needs, and how high their expectations are with everything.

How have you adapted your business to meet these expectations?

Jack: I have a broad relationship with all the manufacturers, so every project can differ. 

For example, a commercial project might require the most entry-level product you can find, because it's literally a budgeted thing. Whereas hospitality five-stars are looking for higher-end manufacturers, and they're willing to pay that price. 

So it's just about having an open mind on each project and making sure that you know exactly what that project needs. You have to be confident that you can fit the right product into the right project, and fully understand what the client requires instead of just taking a guess at it.

Tell me a little bit about the customer journey differences.

Jack: The expectations are very different. On commercial projects, there's a lot of value engineering and changes going on. Whereas in hospitality projects, they want to see the product, make sure it's high-end with a warranty, and that it's going to last. 

Residential and hospitality projects are slightly similar in terms of standards, whereas commercial projects look a lot more at price.

You mentioned "value engineering." What is that, and can you give an example?

Jack: Value engineering involves looking at a specification, or a group of products that have been put forward and specified for a project, and finding a product that's essentially like-for-like, or very similar, at a lower price point. 

So you’re value engineering the actual specification — saving value and cost, while also getting a product that's near enough to the same standard.

I normally see this in commercial and hospitality projects. They always start with the nice, high-end products and think, we want to look good. But nine times out of 10 times, it does come down to cost and whether they're going to land within budget.

Many independents avoid commercial projects because they believe quality suffers, yet you have built your entire business around them. What do you think they are getting wrong?

Jack: I think all projects require the right people to look at them. 

Most of the time, people lack exposure to the breadth of products available. There are excellent alternatives available once you understand the market and manufacturers.

The products are already out there. It's just making sure that you're aware of what that project needs and how you can deliver on it.

There is always going to be the odd commercial job where the budget is too low and there isn't a product that's actually going to be viable or meet regulations. Sometimes you do have to pass on the occasional ones like these. But nine times out of 10, you can find and recommend a product. 

I just think sometimes the value isn't there for certain people. But as an independent business, we're always happy to explore opportunities that larger merchants may overlook.

Are independents not making enough of an effort to research the market?

Jack: 100%. Procurement is all about knowing the products and knowing exactly where you can get them from. There are a lot of entry-level brands that will cater for commercial projects. So if you've got the relationships there, there's nothing you can't replace.

I could spend a day on a five-bed residential house where they'll spend £30,000 on a bathroom, and then I can jump straight over to a commercial school project where they want to spend £2,000 on four WCs, taps and urinals — it's just about broadening your horizon and making sure you're fully aware of what the market actually offers.

Materials are so expensive; how are you managing project costs without compromising quality?

Jack: We will always ensure that we ask questions on when there's going to be a price increase, especially when specifying for longer schemes and projects with a two-to-three-year plan in place. 

We’re also transparent with our communications — we show clients the prices and then we tell them they may be subject to price increases down the line. 

I’ve found it's not the biggest of issues — prices go up naturally, but so do budgets. 

In reality, yes the expectations and the budgets often don't match — clients expect the world, and then you see the budget, and you can be a little bit shocked. 

But if you know the products, you can find a middle ground and say, ‘Look, this is where you need to be, budget-wise. So if you want this standard, how about we look at these alternatives?’ 

You just need to find that middle ground and make sure you get the right product in place.

So really your USP is an encyclopedic knowledge of products.

Jack: That's exactly it — it’s really knowing the product. 

It's easy for a designer to say this looks nice, this is good. But we know the product and the regulations around it, so we can go in and say, ‘Yes, that gold tap or that gold shower might look nice, but it's not a serviceable shower, so it's not going to suit a hospitality project.’

It's just the little bits that we pick up on that standard trade counters or standard contract merchants wouldn't.

We work with the majority of manufacturers, though it’s easier if a client has preferences, because I can always say ‘Yes, I actually know these guys, I'll reach out to them and see what we can do.’

There is a lot of emotion around "Buy British." How much of it matches the reality of how bathrooms are actually sourced today?

Jack: Quite a lot of UK projects do look for British-manufactured products. However, there are a lot of options out there and a lot of companies offering this. Even German brands are offering UK-manufactured products, because they've got a UK base, or they do enough work in the UK on the product.

Most of my clients are aware that things are made in Europe or that some bits are made in China. 

Often, the ball moves when it comes down to budget and they say, ‘We can consider other options.’

If an independent designer wanted to move into commercial projects, what are the most important things they should be doing first?

Jack: Projects are a relationships game. The projects we're looking at are 100-bed hotels. Their team would ensure that it's designed correctly — you wouldn't need someone to double-check that things are right.

So it’s about building more relationships and understanding the process better. They need to understand that early doors is better than coming in when it's at estimate stage or the contractor has picked it up.

The way we work is, if we were to use a manufacturer on a project, we'd go to them and say, ‘Can you register this project to me?’ It means the manufacturer will give us better terms than anyone else going in for the job, because we've put their product forward under the spec.

What habit or decision has had the biggest impact on your growth as a business owner?

Jack: It’s marketing. 

Quite often, people can be quite lazy on the marketing front — I find that contract merchants don't put a lot of time into it. They pick up new business solely off the back of relationships.

With Millora, we're trying to push a big marketing scheme and make sure we're on top of the market — we post regularly on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. 

It’s just about getting the biggest reach possible and letting people know about us. Even as contract merchants, we're showing interior designers what we do and the services we offer. Not a lot of contract merchants do it that way. 

Often, it's a lot harder to sell a service than a product. So it's about making sure people know we're Millora, this is what we do, we're free of charge for interior designers, and we're helping you pick the right product for the right project — whatever your budget.

On Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, we do quite a lot of outreach — we message designers directly, introducing them to our social profiles. 

We've actually had quite a lot come back from that, so it's been a big thing for us. We secured a £50K project just from LinkedIn outreach.

How big is your team?

Jack: It's just myself on the project side — we've got someone in finance and someone looking after the accounts part time. I'm in the business day in and day out. And my girlfriend helps with marketing because she’s a lot better than me on the old socials.

How do you see the bathroom industry changing in the next five years, and what should designers do to remain relevant?

Jack: The world itself has changed massively over the past 10 years with social media and AI, so it's just about tapping into that. I think the bathroom industry as a whole won't change a lot more than this.

It's getting a lot more recognised that you don't need to go into showrooms — you can trust online. There are a lot more people doing renders and CAD, so you can see and envision your bathroom without actually having to go into a showroom. 

That's why I got into the contracts side — there's a big market and not a lot of new blood coming in, bringing new ideas or putting time and money into marketing, making sure it matches up with interior designers. 

On the projects side, there will always be refurbs, new schemes, hotels buying each other out. But the industry itself, I don't see it changing much. I think it's just about keeping up with trends and making sure manufacturers do the same.