Retailer Spotlight: Taylor Made Wheelchairs unveils bright and funky West Midlands showroom
With over 30 years of experience prescribing manual and power wheelchairs and seating, a husband and wife team in the West Midlands are looking to transform their customers lives with custom made seating and mobility to suit their lifestyle…
Set up by husband and wife team Emma and Christopher Taylor, Taylor Made Wheelchairs recently opened a bright and funky new showroom in the West Midlands.
Boasting a high street location in Brierley Hill, Dudley, and featuring bright and funky artwork on the walls, the store provides a wide range of equipment, including manual and powered wheelchairs, mobility scooters, power add-on bikes and seating for adults and children.
As well as supporting clients with wheelchair assessments and advice all over the Midlands and its neighbouring areas., the business is also working with the NHS, private occupational therapists, physiotherapists and charities.
“We target therapists wanting an honest approach to their client needs out of store while in-store locally it’s clients who value quality.”
For Chris, the mobility trade is a “life-long passion, all I know.” Chris was the director/co-owner of another dealership before starting up the fledgling business and has much experience in the mobility industry. He spent 25 years at Sunrise Medical starting on the shop floor building chairs before moving towards a mix of sales and product management roles. During his career Chris has delivered thousands of hours of NHS clinical assessments as well as supported private specialists and charities.
Setting up
Emma and Chris had talked about setting up a business together for a couple of years so when they decided to make the leap it felt like a natural progression. Emma looks after the administration of the business and has a background in business management and operations, while Chris is focused around making sure products are suitable are “tailor made” for customers.
Says Chris: “We just felt we could do things better on our own on a smaller scale and giving the best customer service possible. Basically looking after clients like they deserve.”
Emma takes care of the finances and stock ordering, while looking after Chris’s diary for servicing and product fittings.
The couple were looking for a central high street location for their starter store rather than a unit on an industrial estate. Says Chris: “To find a store was the biggest challenge as it has taken over a year to actually narrow down to a selection of a few and then to negotiate a decent contract.
“In the end we found this place that was less than three miles from home and the landlord was also local so it just goes to show if you look long enough you will find something that suits.”
The store itself is handily located on a very busy road with a major hospital about half a mile up the road towards Dudley.
It’s a small store with a bright and vibrant interior.
“The fitting out of the artwork was supported and actually the idea of Simon Collins, the MD of sales and marketing at Sunrise Medical which is very close by.
“We just found a contractor that could do what we needed and along with a really good landlord it was easier.”
Certainly the feedback from customers to the store has been very positive, says Chris. “So far the feedback has been really nice and people have been surprised that it’s so bright and welcoming and not like your every day mobility store.”
Best in stock
Chris says that he has chosen to stock products from industry-leading brands based on their clinical excellence and customer support. Products include rollators, track wheels, power add-on bikes and wheelchairs from Rehasense, riser recliners from Repose, mobility scooters and powerchairs from Sunrise Medical, wheelchair backrests and cushions from Jay, as well as a range of incontinence products, walking sticks and daily living aids.
Chris says he has been impressed with the Quickie indoor/outdoor powerchairs from Sunrise Medical. “The new off-road Magic 360 is proving to be a very niche product.”
When it comes to what products he chooses to stock in the store Chris says that there’s nothing he wouldn’t really have a look at really but “it’s got to be right for the client.”
For Chris the primary motivation is offering excellent customer service. “I don’t take on a great deal of clients as I see there’s a ceiling on what you can do to look after your clients otherwise the ceiling caves in by selling everywhere around the country and not support the clients.
“We don’t stock anything that is poor quality just because it’s a value line. We just don’t want disappointed clients.”
As far as bestsellers go Chris states: “I have to say the Quickie Life folding chair and the Quickie Q500 M are my real go-to products along with the Jay seating range.
The PAWS City range of handbikes from Rehasense, which come with either a 12” or 14” front wheel and are ideal for city travelling, have also done well, he says. “They go well with any Quickie wheelchair for my clients.”
Chris is looking forward to seeing what response gets from customers to the Magic 360 powerchair, made by Magic Mobility, an Australian brand owned by Sunrise Medical. The compact chair with off-road capabililty is suitable for kids and adults and combines supportive MPS seating with a range of powered functions to support end users from the most basic to the most complex needs.
Says Chris: “The Magic 360 is the absolute game changer for outdoor travel and will literally go where no other chair in the range I supply will go.
“I’ve done the same work I did on the chair when I was in product management where before you tell the market how brilliant the new product is you actually go out and test it for yourself, and I can honestly say I’m blown away with the performance of this chair. It’s going to be a very successful product.”
Upcoming challenges
Chris said the business is progressing very well and is already ahead of plan this financial year. If anything he says, managing growth is going to be a real task.
He says: “Organic growth is always best though as I’ve learnt you just can’t successfully buy it and come out the other end reaping the rewards, especially in a small family business.”
Taking a wider view of the mobility sector as a whole Chris admits “the economic situation” goes right across all sectors, with the mobility sector having to contend first and foremost with a supply-chain challenge that has been unseen in recent years. With the rise of ecommerce for many companies it’s often about beating the competition with low prices but Chris feels that businesses such as this can beat this by focusing on the right products, offering excellent customer service and building relationships with clients.
“Customers are starting to look at more quality offerings as the old saying goes, buy cheap buy twice.”
As for new stores? “We’re looking to bed in the new store and take a view on progression when the time is right, and then, who knows?”
www.taylormadewheelchairs.co.uk
