Trade Talk: Access BDD reflects on its growth and navigating the challenges of a global pandemic
Access BDD is a leading supplier of stairlifts, platform lifts and home lift solutions in the UK. Its innovative mobility solutions are distributed via a network of carefully chosen business partners.
Before being appointed Managing Director of Access BDD in April 2017, Andrew Warbrick held the position of Regional Sales Manager for the UK & Ireland at the firm. With this background and years of industry experience, Andrew has successfully led the business through a continued successful growth period whilst also navigating the challenges of the global pandemic.
In his role as Managing Director, Andrew is responsible for overseeing Access BDD’s global business operations and along with the rest of the Access BDD team, will be attending Rehacare and the OT Show over the coming months. THIIS chats to Andrew to find out more…
Access BDD shared with THIIS last year that it had plans to update its Homeglide straight stairlift. Can you tell us a bit more about the updates you made to this model?
“The first thing to understand is why we did it. The major driver was making sure we had a fully compliant lift as EN81-40:2020 standards are changing and what we found, as I am sure other manufacturers have, is that our straight stairlift needed some adaptations to meet these regulations. We took this opportunity to look at what else we could do to the lift to not only meet these new regulations but also address changes in the market and the needs of our partners and their customers.
“In addition to our core business in Europe, we have a growing presence in Asia and a newly expanding business in North America, all of which are slightly different markets with differing needs. I strongly believe we should always be developing and improving new and existing products, along with the support services we provide.
“The launch of the HomeGlide follows the successful launch of the Flow X in 2021 and it was a natural progression to update the HomeGlide to ensure we would have a straight and curved model fully prepared for the new regulations which come into force in April 2023.
“For the new HomeGlide we wanted to make sure we had a straight stairlift that met modern-day requirements which are twofold – firstly, meeting new industry standards which is the expectation of our partners. Secondly, ensuring we incorporated all the features we knew end users were looking for, after gathering feedback from our partners.
“These features included increasing the weight capacity to 160kg which meets the global market needs, an integrated call system, new safety edges and an auto-detection system. We also increased the seat depth for better postural support when sitting, along with the general comfort and smoothness of the ride which all combine to provide a superior user experience. We also changed the colour palette to meet modern tastes and interior design trends, to ensure it would blend seamlessly with its environment. I believe a stairlift should be seen as a piece of furniture rather than a medical device.
“So far, the feedback from our partners in the UK & Europe has been extremely positive. The fact that both Flow X and HomeGlide are fully compliant long before the April 2023 deadline also provides peace of mind to our partners. We place a very high value on the input from them, after all, we are not customer facing, carrying out installations, servicing or speaking to customers every day.
“That is why we pay attention to our partners when developing new products and services, I know that they appreciate this. We also want them to know that by working with Access BDD they have the peace of mind that the stairlifts they are selling exceed all regulations and user requirements.”
Can you share some news about any new products coming from Access BDD or updates on popular models?
“It is a never-ending process in terms of R & D and how we develop and improve the partner and user experience. In terms of development, it is not just about physical products. In the future, I think there will be more change in terms of the connectivity of products, digitalisation and how we deliver the process of dealing with Access BDD and I feel these are all very important areas.
“Also, how can we make the interaction process as easy and seamless as possible? Whether it is a product, service or automated digital system, does it add value to our relationship with our partners? I believe you will see more of this from us as we move forward in a more digital landscape.”
Last year, Access BDD discussed with THIIS its plan last year to enter the US market. What do you think marks Access BDD products out in the competitive US market?
“Our launch into North America follows our entry into the Canadian market two years ago which was a great success and showed us there was a market we could be a part of. At present, we are very much focusing on stairlifts in the North American market. There is no significant difference between the UK and US markets and all our products are fully compliant with American and Canadian standards. “When we entered the US it was more of a straight stairlift-driven market, however, Flow X is helping us to buck that trend in terms of the overall market split and we are certainly seeing an upturn in the desire for the curved stairlifts.
“We launched in the US earlier this year, so we are still in our infancy and actively looking to appoint new partners in the US. Entering a new territory is both challenging and exciting for us as a business and we believe from the success of the first few months Access BDD will soon be a significant player in the US stairlift market. One recurring comment we hear during conversations is that people like the fact we offer something different to the traditional US-manufactured stairlift and people are particularly impressed with the single rail solution. People also really like the look and design of our products when they see them for themselves and the fact it does not resemble a medical device and looks great in a domestic environment while enabling people to continue to live independently in their own homes.”
Access BDD attended Medtrade East last year. What were your thoughts on the event?
“Medtrade 2021 was our first event in the US and it was a great success. The event took place before we had even started to trade in the US, so it was more about introducing ourselves to the US market and was a fantastic opportunity to engage with a large number of people from all over North America in one place over a couple of days and showcase our products.
“Personally, I really like exhibitions as there is nothing else quite like them. Online meetings were our only option for much of the last two years, but nothing beats engaging with people face to face especially when these people will be representing Access BDD and selling our products.
“What’s best is some of the organisations we met at last year’s Medtrade are now established business partners and we are very much looking forward to attending again this year to introduce the new HomeGlide to the US market and build on this success of the last 12 months.”
What other events will Access BDD be participating in, both here and abroad?
“After the last two years, the important thing for me is reconnecting and there is no better way than attending some key exhibitions. In the coming months we will be attending Rehacare in Germany, the OT Show in Birmingham and Liftex in London which is more focused on the home elevator trade business. We are a customer-driven business and there is nothing like face-to-face meetings when it comes to demonstrating our products and building relationships.”
Access BDD recently launched a new cloud-based order processing service, linc. Can you tell us more about this?
We launched LINC just over a month ago to support our dealers and make the relationship with them as seamless as possible and the initial feedback has exceeded all our expectations.
“Our partners played a pivotal role in the development of LINC as they were looking for a more transparent system with real-time information and visibility of their order book. Partners can now see real-time information from the point of order through to dispatch which is great for them as they do not have to make calls or send emails etc.
“As it is cloud-based, they can access their LINC portal from any device from any location and keep their customers up to date with direct order monitoring. LINC also helps improve their efficiency and installation planning as they are in real-time dialogue with us.
“A partner can survey, configure and place their order before they have even left the property so the customer can see that their access solution is in progress which is another bonus as often these orders are time critical for the end user. LINC will also speed up order and delivery time by removing as much of the manual interaction as possible which will have a positive impact on reducing lead times. This is also another example of how we listen to and work with our partners when looking at ways of developing our products and support systems.”
Is Access BDD planning any more initiatives to improve the service it offers its partners?
“We never stop looking to improve and we should never be complacent about what we deliver and how we deliver it. Regardless of what area of the business it may be, we are always looking at how we can improve the partner and end user’s experience. I think we will see more focus on the connectivity of products in the future and what we can do with the connected portfolio.
“One such example is moving from a reactive to a proactive maintenance programme. By monitoring the product remotely, our partners or us can react to a fault or call out potentially before the end user even knows about it. So, when we are going to carry out a service or repair the engineer will know exactly what they need in terms of tools or spare parts to ensure the issue is resolved there and then. This offers increased peace of mind to all concerned and with the increasing price of fuel, it also helps keep costs down as there will be no need for the engineer to potentially have to make a return visit. This kind of development will also ensure that a stairlift is out of action for a minimal amount of time.
“This type of support will also provide confidence to the end user and their friends or family as they will know that the stairlift is always being monitored for any potential issue.
“Ultimately, we aim to help people continue to live independently in their own homes and these types of developments are certainly going to make this even more possible.”
How do you envisage Access BDD growing over the next few years?
“We have strong growth expectations for the next three years with a very solid plan of how we will achieve that. We will still be very much focused on our core European market, not just for stairlifts but also the platform lifts which are growing in the developing markets of the Middle East, India and Southeast Asia. We are also further developing the Canadian and North American markets. We know there are challenges around the world at present but I believe we have a strong business model to overcome any obstacles.”
