A bath isn't just for Christmas...

Our top tips for moving your business

2011-07-26T00:30:00.000-07:00

Now we certainly are not a professional removals company, and the extent of our shipments around the UK thus far have been based around pallets, so this blog post isn't a definitive guide by experts in the know, however, if you want some real honest advice from the point of few of a group of novices who had to work all hours to move, then read on.

For the past few months we have been going through the painstaking process of relocating our whole business, imagine the stress of moving house then multiply that by 100, then add some more.. Essentially the opposite method to all business forecasting!

We had to change everything, even thinking about how the staff get to and from work. Moving is never quite as easy as it seems!

Obviously we knew we couldn’t just waltz in and start working; the building was literally stripped of everything, it was a shell, it had nothing, not even electrics, so we had to get to work turning it into a habitable environment, effectively running two warehouses at once.

There were priorities into what we went ahead with first, like getting the electricity up and installing the alarm system, which weren’t too much hassle but you can’t get any insurance without one and you can’t get into the building without the other!

So here is your first top tip, and we guarantee you won’t see it anywhere else. If someone called the Meter registration board, or Commercial Energy rings up, claiming as a new tenant/owner you need to register your meter with them, don’t. They do not work for any energy companies and are simply trying to get you into long term energy contracts without even realising it!!

Our second priority was to get the other essentials sorted before we could actually move in, such as a telephone line and broadband, but also to lease a forklift to operate the warehouse.

So here’s your second top tip! Do a lot of research into who you use for your telephone lines. BT has had to split into two parts, the actual lines company is now separate to the billing side, so there are now a lot of companies that can get you some excellent deals out there! However, be warned, always read the small print. These offers that look great often aren’t. Optimum Calls for example will tie you into a five year contract and the deals only last for one! When in doubt, ask an expert, we used Red Maple Consultants for our telephones, but then we did have to wire them in too!

Never to be defeated by the essentials, we actually drew up our expansion plan before we moved in, meaning everything we have set up is designed to be replaced or added to. Now that might sound a tad over the top, but in our business we know we won’t be able to contain our growth plans in the current building, or at least with the building in its current shape.

So here’s you third top tip, after such a big move, we would rather expand on site than go elsewhere; so make sure you plan ahead! If you’re not sure of where you will be going next, it’s always still a good idea to plan how everything should be laid out in both the warehouse and the offices when you actually move in! There is nothing worse than not being able to fit!

Quite handily, the issue of not being able to fit leads us onto top tip number four; there is ALWAYS more to move than you expect!

Our tiny office alone went from four crates of bits and bobs to twenty six in a very short space of time. We originally planned to move everything in one day via a 40ft arctic truck; however at the last minute we were offered a double deck arctic so decided it was better to have the extra capacity if necessary! That turned out to be the right idea, we worked constantly in both warehouses for 16 hours and only just managed the move. The moral of the story here is; get the biggest truck you can!

So finally we are in, and we still haven’t managed to unpack properly! For those of you that would like to visit us the address is: Unit 4B, Admiral Point, Spectrum Business Park, Seaham, County Durham SR7 7PP, but please give us prior warning as we might need to clear you a path to the coffee!

So there you have it, four top tips and some photos to boot, well except we have one tip more. Leave time to unpack too! It’s all very well leaving your old life behind you, but you still need to operate out of the new one! So don’t do what we did and move on a Sunday!

What women want... K&B News June 2011

2011-06-06T08:47:00.000-07:00

I recently finished the arduous process of designing a new brochure, potentially one of the most important tools manufacturers have to influence the sales process.

Throughout this process I have learnt many things, but none has struck me as much as how the industry seems to be selling to the wrong people. Why are the majority of brochures designed with only men in mind?

Admittedly this might seem a strange question at first. In an industry where males greatly outnumber their female counterparts it is only natural that brochures would be presented from the male viewpoint.

From a male perspective, the artistic design of a brochure is often thought to be the key to sales, yet there are
hundreds of brochures out there that don’t actually sell the product.

While artistic design is important, it must be tailored to the end customer, yet there is little evidence that manufacturers know who they are selling to. Why design a brochure for men, when the key decision maker is often female?

With our latest brochure I have decided to try to ignore the examples of the past, to ignore the standard A4 glossy
brochure and start afresh to see if a brochure could be produced that was solely designed to attract the fairer sex.

Unfortunately, as a man I have a limited insight into the finer workings of the female mind. In order to design an effective brochure we must therefore attempt to imagine how women would approach the process of purchasing a bathroom.

Imagine for a second a man wants to buy a new car. The sales process is quite simple, he first buys a car magazine and reads about the supercars cars, then he goes to the car dealer and gets in the most beautiful car there (which coincidentally is usually the most expensive). After a short while he consoles himself with the fact he cannot afford it and then finally moves on to the car he can afford.

So as men we can only presume women who want to buy a new bathroom follow a very similar process. First she buys a home magazine and reads about the nicest bathrooms, then she goes to the bathroom shop and looks longingly at the most beautiful bathroom there (which coincidentally is usually the most expensive). After a short while she consoles herself with the fact that she cannot afford it, and then finally moves on to the bathroom she can afford.

So what can be learnt from this? Essentially everyone looks for inspiration first, with this inspiration coming not from the cheapest products, but from the best.

In recent years the “Ikea effect” of inspiration through the lifestyle shot has found its way into our brochures, and while this is a good thing for sales in general, as an industry we fail to understand the reason for this. Ultimately we feel it is to show off what we offer and as a result products become lost within a sea of surrounding alternate sizes or colours. Lifestyle shots should be used to inspire, yet as men, we fail to understand the importance of inspiration in a woman’s purchasing decision.

The problem lies in the simple fact that men and women react very differently to inspiration. Men can be inspired to buy a bathroom, but if they can’t afford it they could equally be inspired to buy a cheaper completely different one. Yet with a woman, the entire future purchase is guided by that initial flash of inspiration, if they cannot afford the original bathroom they will seek to replicate it at a lower cost. This is illustrated perfectly by the alternate approaches men and women take to the normal weekly shop.

When shopping for groceries, a man starts at the front door with vegetables, finishing the shop at the back of the store in the wine section. This is a logical process, usually involving matching product choices to a budget wholly inspired by the need to eat.

But a woman although having the same ultimate goal to eat for a week shops completely differently. When women shop for food, they shop with meals in mind, generally inspired by magazines or TV programs. She will spend the most on the main ingredients of each meal, and compromises on the supporting bits in order to be able to afford it. It is also important to note that as a result of focusing on meals, women often miss the little things like snacks, they essentially get distracted by achieving the end meals they have already decided upon.

Men shop to solve a problem, give them a budget and they will most likely fit the task to the budget. Relate this to bathrooms, and if they are spending £10k on a bathroom they will most likely spread that evenly around the room.

Women on the other hand, will shop with an end idea inspired by the home magazine in mind, picking one or two products they like, for example a shower or a bath and then allocate the remaining budget across the rest of the room.

It is therefore our job as manufacturers to inspire women with our brochures from the outset, to establish our products as the focal point of their bathroom. If we do this, they will build their bathroom around us.

The key to a decent brochure is not to inform the plumber, but to inspire every woman. Remove all the useless product variant shots, put in the nice quote, evoke those flashes of inspiration and a woman will compromise on everyone else’s products to get yours.

Did you know we do tiles?!

2011-05-17T04:55:00.000-07:00

As Dovcor grows, we are starting to add new products to our range and this less than wordy blog is here to show you 3 brand new additions to the Dovcor brand, only a tiny part of our tile ranges!

For a long time, the idea behind Dovcor has been to provide a whole bathroom, not just some unique furniture, or the odd bath... if you are going to bath in luxury, you need the whole bathroom to be right.. but equally from a business point of view (and a green one too!) if we are delivering a unit 300 miles away, surely its more economical to deliver some tiles, taps and a bath too..

So over the past few months we have been working away to bring you the best quality tiles, at some very competitive prices.. we even created some that had Swarovski Crystals in (see below)

The beauty of the Swarovski Crystal tile is quite literally that it sparkles against the black background. Even in this low res format, these tiles offset the Curved White Gloss Moreno unit perfectly! (with a bit of a hand from some lovely white tiles too).

But not everyone can afford to have Crystal in their bathroom, so to inject some normality into a bathroom we have an Autumn Slate tile that goes perfectly with our White Gloss Tolima Unit! Everyone knows how versatile white is as a colour, but this slate look is truly stunning and makes the unit stand out without the need for the contrasts in colour seen above!

Of course, to date, beige has become a winner in the tiles sales stakes, being the number one tile (next to white), but we didn't want to bring in any old beige tile! This Earthstone tile is available in three shades and with a matt or polished effect. Its not a stand out tile like the slate or the crystal, but thats where its charm lies, the ability to portray a warm home like feel, while making the furniture stand out as being different.

Pretty soon we will be adding more photos of our unique tiles to the website, but heres a few more for you to look at while you wait!

Is branding just a sales tool?

2011-03-29T06:05:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed that people prefer to buy a bottom of the range 3 series rather than a top of the range focus? As much as people deny it, image matters..

Image is so important..when your building a brand it affects everything you do as a company..ultimately with a brand, in the customers eyes 2+2 must equal 4..

As a brand we stand out because we're different, we innovate, and we're not afraid to try something new..but so many people fail to understand that its not just the obvious things like a brochure that need to match your brand.. its everything, right down to the clothes you wear and the cars you drive... if your brand says your different.. so must everything you do.

I never fully understood that when I started out, I thought if you had the best products at the best prices then you would succeed regardless.. with the benefit of hindsight I can't stress enough how vitally important reaffirming your image at every stage is..if you sell designer bathrooms, you need to look like a designer.

So many organisations have a brand image these days that is presented to the customer initially, but isn't replicated in their after care service, or in how they deal with their own staff. In order to ensure that our brand image is addressed right throughout the company, I have started to split Dovcor up into four component parts, linked by a central communication system.

We now have operations, design, sales and branding departments, run by their own managers. Thanks to our new central communication system, each department could theoretically operate anywhere in the world and still maintain the same level of communication as if they were in the same office.

You will notice there isn't a sales and marketing department in this set up. While a well thought out marketing strategy is vital to a successful sales drive, personally I believe a true salesman is good at sales, not necessarily designing a brochure and creating a brand. Maybe the reason branding often never filters from sales through to the rest of the company is because it is created by a sales department for sales reasons, preventing the rest of the company to really take ownership of it.

I think in the past, too many companies have seen branding as a way of enhancing current sales, rather than as a mechanism to define an organisation as a whole.

By putting the branding into the hands of someone else, branding becomes a tool for the sales team to use just as before, but as a tool in its own right, it can be applied to other departments as well.

The key to successfully applying a brand to the organisation therefore becomes an issue of communication, not an issue of ownership.

An new start with a new brochure...

2011-02-25T10:20:00.000-08:00

Now I am going to start by admitting something that is often very hard for people like me to say..

I got it wrong.. (you can quote this)..

Now that statement has a pretty wide scope to it, so let me put it into perspective for you. When I first started Dovcor, my knowledge ran to how to make good products. I had no clue how to sell them, and certainly not how to market them correctly.

So like any good student, I got a few brochures, studied them, and then set about taking the best bits from each and making my first brochure. Now logic states that this should leave me with the best brochure going... but it didn't.. so what went wrong?

Well firstly, it was based upon everyone else's brochure.. meaning it had no individual identity.. I was telling people we were different.. but our brochure didn't say it (well it did actually, in written form, but not in terms of looks).

It had a good layout, it had nice bathroom sets, and it even had the prices laid out so as to show the total price you pay.. and yet it just didn't work. Now there are a few reasons for this, toilets blocking vital design pieces, and roofs visible in reflections, but these were minor points.

In reality the brochure neither worked as a sales piece or represented who we are.

The first part is straight forward... you can't put your best selling unit near the back of the brochure and expect people to find it, if its your best unit.. show it off.

But the second issue, the one of not representing Dovcor is a hard one.. and one that took me too long to figure out.

I suppose its like being a parent, so proud of what I had created I was blind to its failings. Essentially, as I set off I knew nothing of the importance of image to a brand, and now from my own failings I have learnt just how vital it is.

Image doesn't just mean getting the products right..its far more complicated than that. If you have a brand, everything you do should match that brand, your people, your website, and especially your brochure. What we had were designer products, with a run of the mill brochure.. 2+2 certainly did not equal four.

We had a £600 unit essentially being sold under the same marketing technique as a £50 one, albeit with expensive paper! What I had failed to realise was that while others had made this mistake, their brands were already established with the stores, so it didn't matter if they got it wrong... so much so that getting it wrong became the industry norm.

To anyone looking in from the outside, this norm appeared to be the way forward, so those inexperienced in the industry would quite naturally fall into the trap, but a years hard experience has taught me to follow my instincts and create a brochure which is unlike any other.

By taking the good points of other brochures, while making a statement about our brand image throughout I could get 95% of the way there, but there were a few big calls I had to make.

1. To put in the original drawings to replace the traditional range shots when introducing the ranges

A big call, never done before, but I had this image of Jaguar cars in my head, showing you the design stage and how it was really effective. Room sets still play a big part, but they support rather than lead the brochure.

Reason - its different, they look great and we design all of our products, why not be proud of it?

2. To make the brochure A5 landscape not the standard A4 portrait

Again, a big call, but with all these big brochures hanging around people can neither carry them easily or tell them apart! A4 is an unnatural size for a picture, so why squash it upwards to fill space.. with A5 landscape we get a compact brochure that easily displays a drawing or a photo.

Reason - its different, they look great, they are user friendly and they fit in a handbag

3. To take the prices out of the brochure

With all the havoc of re-prints due to VAT changes there was a reason to do this, but more subtly, I think pricing up products throughout cheapens the brochure. People are shopping around more than ever, so they are not going to expect to pay the RRP in any case!

Reason - its different, it looks more up market and it allows the customer to dream

4. Less is more

If you open a competitor brochure, the first thing that hits you is a page of text.. we open with two blank white pages and a quote from apple founder Steve Jobs:

"The difference between leaders and followers is innovation"

Reason - it sets the tone for the whole brochure in one sentence and uses Apple's brand image to stimulate a correlation to ours. A cheat to get the gut instinct reaction we are looking for.

All in all, the new brochure is stunning, it may have driven me crazy over the past 6 months but its exactly what I wanted it to be.. a statement of intent that we are different.. and a true reflection of our brand.. so please request one and give me your feedback.. I will be starting the next one soon enough!

A slight change of tactics

2011-02-08T08:53:00.000-08:00

Now as many of you may well know, the blog until now was written by Mr Andy McGuire, apprentice to Will, giving you an insiders view of www.dovcor.com.

After many consultations with Pr and marketing, it has been decided to make this blog more useful to you the customer, by way of introducing you to the bathroom market itself, some developments, news stories and in general give you a commentary on the industry as a whole.

Now while Andy is well versed in the skills of writing, it has also been decided that Will should write the blog, as the man behind dovcor and writer of the "Entrepreneur of the North" blog.

So here I am... hello!

Now in coming weeks I will endeavor to open up a world of possibilities and inspire you to spend that little bit more on your bathroom, to LOVE your bathroom and then I will not only tell you how we can help you, but in the interests of fairness I will show you how our competitors can help you as well.

So to kick things off I would like to draw your attention this week to our new brochure, please do send in requests to be sent one, as it has taken me a very long time to complete (6 months in fact!) so I would very much appreciate some one having a look at it from time to time.

Now you will notice we have put some of the concept sketches in this version. As we design and manufacture all our own products, world exclusive products in fact, we were frustrated that the first brochure did not show off our capabilities or flair for design. So this time round these have been included, they not only help set our brochure apart as unique as you wont see sketches in any other brochure, but they help create a story to our products as well. Hopefully you will get a sense of the dedication and love that goes into making our products just that little bit better.

You will also notice a slight change from the old brochure in that we have shifted the ranges around to make room for our new stunning showpiece Oena, made with our very own exclusive Chateau Oak colour that even the Italians didn't have. We actually exported it to Italy just for the contruction of this range!

The range itself is based on an s-shape "wave" curve, which can be seen in both the bathroom vanity units and the bath (note the s-shape wooden bath panel!). The panel itself was technically impossible to make anywhere in the world before we designed the tooling to do it, so for us we feel this range represents a real step forward and wanted to show this by making it the first thing you see in the brochure.

If we can keep making ground breaking ranges like this then maybe we will take the bathroom world by storm!

Weekly Update

2011-01-21T05:16:00.000-08:00

Greetings Dovcorians!

This week looked to be a quiet one, here in not-so-sunny Sunderland (even though as i say this, it's now red hot and the sun is shining). However, looks can be deceiving as we were about to find out...

Our very own face-for-TV Will Ryles featured in an interview with two other major businessmen courtesy of ifwecanyoucan.tv . This was a very insightful piece i thought, and well worth a look in.

As well as this, Will also had an interview being published in next months BQ Magazine. This means that, with this weeks developments and the ITVnews story before Christmas, these last few months will hopefully help the next year be as exciting as he hope it will be.

In Andynews, due to the rise in VAT (to 20%) I have spend the last few days chained to the computer, updating the prices on Dovcor's SAGE account and website.

In other news, Daniel, our whizz kid 'up and coming' accountant from Simply Additions, has been with us for most of the week to help fix our SAGE accounts. As well as being there to make sure Andy doesn't get lonely in the wonderful world of Dovcor while Will was out visiting our stores.

As well as this, the Dovcor 'Blue lamp Foundation' music charity gig has had a new development. The Vaudeville Class has now been in touch and could possibly still play if the gigs date doesn't collide with that of their new tour (starting at the end of February, add Vaudevilles on facebook for more information).

Finally, our news story of the week is that after so much anticipation and much hard work from us, the long-awaited brochure is finally going to print 5 months after we started designs. We assure you, the brochure is definitely ready to print this time, and after all, good things come to those who wait!

Also as a side note, our competition broke 30,000 entrants this week!! Continue entering on the Dovcor website.

Well, that's all from me, and Dovcor this week, we hope you've enjoyed it!

Take care now and don't be a stranger!!!

Illness, TV and Oena

2011-01-14T01:57:00.001-08:00

Greetings Dovcorians!

How are we today? Better than the Dovcor team I home. Illness has swept through the camp and attempted to desolate our morale! However its attempts have been dashed as, brave as we are, we soldier on. As Churchill (and more famously) Will Ryles said “If you’re going through hell, keep going!”

The big news this week is that as we are putting our luxury bath into our Boldon store (to complete our Oena display there) They and another store are using our luxury bathroom suit as their main display for their new TV commercials! So Oena will be featuring on a screen near you (on ITV) very soon!

Our own Will Ryles has some important news to relay through me too!

He founded the “Young Entrepreneurs Trust” a prestigious day for himself and the company! Monthly dinner meetings will start from February. Also, Will has now created his own blog! Check it out by clicking <<>>

In other news, the brochure is finally ready for release via email! Printing is set to begin shortly (FINALLY!)

Poor Mr Ryles has been out visiting stores in the quiet January month!!! Thursday saw him chained to his Ferrari Golf for almost 6 hours!

Finally, the ‘Blue Lamp Music Gig’ (sponsored by Dovcor) has a venue! Plan have been unfolding as my team and I work tirelessly to bring you the nectar for your eardrums you so desperately desire! Apart from that, official press release is scheduled on the 7^th February.

That’s all for now folks, I leave you by wishing you a fantastic weekend, and hopefully not to catch our illness!!!

Andy

The Blue Lamp Foundation take 2

2011-01-11T04:22:00.000-08:00

The band list for the charity gig so far:

Captain Igloo and the Xtreme
The Vaudeville Class (possibly)
Tempest
Urban Masquerade

That's it so far, hopefully have some more for you by the end of the week and a venue too!!!

The Blue Lamp Foundation

2011-01-10T05:38:00.000-08:00

Hi all!!

This is a quick but very important message. I am running (though our beloved Dovcor) a campaign for sponsor money as PC David Rathband (Blinded by Raul Moat last year) is running the London Marathon on behalf of the Blue Lamp Foundation!!!

he's looking to raise over £10,000 so we at your favorite luxury bathroom suite company thought we'd help him along by trying our best to raise money!! I am planning on running a charity music gig, as well as sending out sponsor forms and organising other events for your pleasure!!

Possible bands already include 'The Vodeville Class' and 'Captain Igloo and the Xtreme' so that promises to be an outstanding night out!!!

All donations are welcome, it's for a good cause so if you wish to help, donate or both you can direct your calls to the Dovcor office at 0191 5494080, to my mobile at 07889094168 or by email to amcguire@dovcor.com. Thanks very much for reading, take care!!!

The REAL first 2011 Blog!!

2011-01-07T01:07:00.000-08:00

Hi there Dovcorians, missed me?

Well yes, we have returned after the lovely lie-ins and slow mornings of the Christmas break to endure the fast paced, bathroom filled workday mornings yet again!!! And already 2011 seems to be a year that may change our rotten luck of late! As, finally, Oena is in our grasp (see yesterdays Blog).

However, Illness has threatened to sink the Dovcor ship already, as our two current office workers (myself and Will) are dying! Lost voices, spluttery coughs and more mucus than ever before, as we are currently under quarantine. Some may say... we have Oena fever!! 'cue tumbleweed'.

So our Dovcor Stig competition was of course, Will Ryles, so if you got that right, give yourself a pat on the back and go out and buy yourself something pretty!!!

Well that's all for now, so until next week take care of yourselves, and each other!!

Toodle pip!!

BIG NEWS!!!

2011-01-06T02:38:00.000-08:00

The big news for this week simply couldnt wait another minute!!!

As of this Monday, we managed to get thye Oena stock into our overflow warehouse in Newcastle!! So your orders (if ordered already) can start to be processed as soon as possible, and if your thinking about ordering a new luxury bathroom suite, now is YOUR chance to get your hands on the best available, Oena!!!!!

Ho Ho Have a Bathroom!!!

2010-12-16T03:03:00.000-08:00

Welcome yet again to our weekly blog, Dovcorian- Lovers!!!

Well another week has flown by us, i can hardly believe it's the end of the week already!

Apart from Will having some highly important (however highly confidential, Dovcor eyes only!) meetings, and two HUUUGE deliveries worth some serious cashishta to Castlemede Homecraft and Boldon Bathroom and Tiles, 00Ryles and I have had a very tame week for once! Its quiet....toooo quiet...

We are aware that this doesn't exactly make good reading for any blogspotter, so I shall be filling you in with the goings on of the week then filling in the blanks with some awesome videos, including some brilliant youtube singers, our very first VIDEO OF THE WEEK and Fail! of the week.

Well, Will and I had our first ever after-work meeting (in McDonalds, where else!) on Tuesday, where many plans were formulated (not to take over the world though, i promise XD ) and I got down to startong AND finishing a soul-destroying 8 page marketing and advertisement report. Thats all for this week...

Just kidding!

Now, Dovcor bring you a Youtube sensation, that have been followed by yours truly for quite some time now! This link is to Justin and Michaels cover of Airoplanes/Brick by Boring Brick!

Now, for the grand unveiling of Andy McGuire's VIDEO OF THE WEEK!!!

This goes to 'How to Wrap a cat for Christmas' by MoreFlippyCat...congratulations...You've won a ROFLcopter!!!

And finally, our FAIL! of the week was a one of mixed Fail and Win, as if you watch closely, first is a clear Fail! and the second attempt, I'd say, was a clear win in distance, cudos on your epic technique, young man! I lol'd at it anyway, so enjoy.... Football Fail!

Well as allways, thank you for reading, SUBSCRIBE!! dont let this go to waste, or I'l hunt you down and spray water at you through a lovely Dovcor Speciosa Showerhead!!!

McGuire out!!!

Two weeks of fun!!

2010-12-13T03:13:00.000-08:00

Howdy Folks, have you missed us?

I am aware that we have not posted a blog for over two weeks and you, as our adoring fans, will have pined for your weekly bathroom news!!

This week, the format of blog is changing slightly, its just going to be a speedy update of the general goings on over the last 2 weeks.

Last week saw the return of our fearless leader, WILLIAM WALLACE!!! (guy whispers into my ear) ermmm... I mean Ryles, sorry, watched too much Braveheart this weekend, anyway, order was again restored to the Dovcorians and their head office after a week of snow!

The week before last (while Will was soaking up the Spanish sun, probably with a hangover) PANIC was insuing in the Dovcor office!!!

I'm joking of course, the office was left in the more-than-capable hands of Howard and Mary, Wills parents. This was for the sole reason that they would be able to supervise Andy, and stop him single-handedly destroying Will's baby while he was away. The week ran smoother than expected, with no major problems bar a grumpy Andy to contend with.

Back to last week, or as it was named, 'R-day'. It was mildly busy last week (thanks to the snow!), and between that and getting back up to speed, it kept Will on his toes. A good job too, bearing in mind one week he had been in 30+ degree heat, and the next he's chilling in the minuses, he needed to do something to keep him warm!!

So, back to normality this week then, so I must dash into the sunset on my Lion Jet-ski!!

You stay classy, and if I dont reply to all of your questions, remember I am just one, incredibly handsome man, and between talking to you, my internet friends, and Dovcor, I am also attempting to cure world hunger...so bear with me.

SEE YOU NEXT WEEEK!!! Andy xx

p.s. our videos of the week were brilliance, hand selected by me, the handsome apprentice, heres a taster with Monday's facebook video of the week!!! http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=484F058C3EAF7FA6

As the time flies....

2010-11-19T07:45:00.001-08:00

There are three words to describe this week, busy, busy, and busy!

We have sent stock far and wide this week with Andrew seemingly spending his days down in the warehouse.

While the rest of the country was talking about the royal engagement, the Dovcor office was a mad house of paperwork and bubble wrap as we tried to get stock delivered within our 24 hour target. The record so far is a Tolima 600 white gloss unit plus basin delivered in under 20 hours from order point!

While the team focused on providing excellent service, Will took the opportunity to teach some uni students from Newcastle how to write a business plan and then talk to a group of business students from Framwellgate School about why he started Dovcor! If you would like will to do a speech or teach a class at any time of the day it seems he is only happy to say yes!

Now apart from attending two very good muscle clubs and being privileged to see the Movember attempts of extraordinary photography and NEmoney, could our week have got more exciting?

YES!! On Thursday, Dovcor.com was hacked! Some miscreant took it upon themselves to hack the admin section of the website (not storage, as this is a third party) and change a few photos. Luckily we are back to normal, but website security has been beefed up!

That rounds off another week at Dovcor HQ, heres hoping for an even busier one next week.

You stay classy, Dovcor fans…

How The Time Flies...

2010-11-12T03:37:00.000-08:00

As the first frosts of winder descend upon us, and we have our first tiny burst of snow, the Dovcor team were once again hard at work. Doing what they do best, saving bathroom standards everywhere!

Monday and Tuesday were pretty uneventful days, as the designs for the brochure were finalized and little Andy learned more about time management, and eating Will's Angel cakes without getting caught.

Wednesday, however, was a busy day for young Andy. He attended and assisted with the handing out of welcome packs for the North East Expo at Gosforth Racecourse, Newcastle. As well as getting loads of freebies, Andy said he thoroughly enjoyed his experience at the Expo, and cant wait until the next one.

Thursday was slightly more eventful again. We heard that our new Oena range baths had finally hit the shores of england!! This invasion of high quality baths is defiantly tipped to be more successful than previous invasions from people such as the Roman army, or the Vikings!!

Finally, Friday was the day the brochure was finally ready for printing! Exciting news for us indeed, and Andy finally got his pretty little Dovcor uniform (awwwwwwwwwwww!).

Well we hope youve enjoyed your visit, and for now, thats all from me (and thats all from him), see you next week!!

Week 3!!

2010-11-05T09:02:00.000-07:00

The Sun was (partially) shining, and week 3 begins, and an average week at most for the working stiffs at Dovcor. However, Andy was a buzy bee this week, travelling too and fro!

Monday to Wednesday was mainly marketing and website work, as Andy recieved various different drafts of our brand new home page! each one more spectacular than the next.

Alex popped up from Red Maple, and aggreed to relieve Will of babysitting duty and take Andy to learn about marketing for Wedesday afternoon! She taught him some fantastic techniques, that can assist him with Dovcors marketing in the future (so she can do less work)!!

Thursday was a big day for Andy, as he sent out his first delivery by himself (well done Andy), and Will whent to another BNI meeting, and arranged to take Andy to one on Friday.

Finally Friday, Will took Andy to his first BNI meeting, of which Andy was incredibly nervous! friday as well as being a day of firsts, was also hopefully a day of lasts, last ammendments to projects that is. Howard dropped by to ammend the codes in the new Brochure plans, and Andy was sent the last draft of the website page, and it was given the go for launch!

Well thats all for this week, so in the words of Mr. Springer, 'Take care of yourselves, and each other' , see you next week!!!!

Week 2!!

2010-10-29T09:06:00.000-07:00

So as the birds sang and the first frost in Newcastle thawed, the newly expanded Dovcor team made their way all over the reigon to Dovcor central, the mighty Sunderland, for another week of Bathroom filled joy.

Monday, Howard (the fourth member of the team AND part timer) was in, paying us a visit and enlightening us on whats going on with the sales front, and to continue Andy's education in all things wood based. Andy started learning more of ther fun stuff, this time, how to enter product codes onto the Sage system, a system that Andy will be using all the time, to quote inbetweeners, sage is his 'friend' and we got a new desk for Kendra!! So its starting to get a bit cramped here in the office, as you may imagine! we had to get rid of out Tolima display in the office so we could fit the desk in! one slight issue, we didnt get a chair so WIll had to give up his, and has complained all week about having to stand up!

On Tuesday Andy continued to catalogue items and furthered his knowledge into the invoice finance system, and, was proud as punch to be issued his own codes for HSBC invoice finance!! this is the Dovcor banking system, so anyone wanting free cash please feel free to jump him on the number 13 bus, at around 3pm!!! coupled with the sage system, it feels like Andy's christmas has came early!!

Wednesday was slightly more extitng, for Will in any case. Andy continued to make invoices, whilst will dressed in his smartest clothes, looking very smart as Kendra said, and trotted out to an IPN event at Hardwhick Hall! We also saw some of the sketches for our new brochure, created by a wonderfull company called Eye level!!

Thursday saw the start of the actual fitting of our lovely new Oena range into Boldon, a prestigious day!! Atrecad also paid us a little visit, and showed us some very cool graphics design software, this added to our current actutechtural drawrings could make Dovcor pretty credible!!

And, Finally,we come to Friday, where Andy was hard at work creating plans for the new scripts for the videos, and Will competed our instalations at Boldon (yaaaay!!) And on a side note, we checked our competition entries, and since monday weve had 1040 entries!!! so keep them coming please!!

Thank you very much for reading, we hope you enjoyed this weeks addition to our life here at Dovcor, and we shall see you all next week!!!!!

And so it begins...

2010-10-25T06:48:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Dovcor blog, our first ever blog! And a weekly one at that. So what did we get up to this week? Answer: A lot!

On Monday our new Apprentice, Andy, started work. This handsome young chap loves football and music, so much that by 9:01 am we had to enforce the no rubbish music policy (by 9:02am we had itunes find its way mysteriously onto our main computer!!). Andy is here to study Admin and Business and has immadiately seized control of our twitter/facebook accounts in one fell swoop. Issues with poor spelling and grammar should therefore be directed to amcguire@dovcor.com!

Tuesday was less exiting, we learnt we have reached Number one in the UK for Althea basins on google (500, 600 and 700's in stock now!) http://www.google.co.uk/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=althea+basins#sclient=psy&hl=en&safe=off&q=althea+clever+baisin&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=9bc9fc41b169ed0c
Also, our bolt-on employee (sorry marketing consultant) Alex Purvis (http://twitter.com/alex_purvis) sropped by to give Andy a few tips. Oh!! and our brand new Oena range was put into its first store! Fantastic!

Wednesday was a day of firsts. Dovcor used http://barterangels.com/ system for the first time (who needs currency these days!), attended the IPN show at Newcastle Racecourse and launched our competition to win over £750 worth of goods! follow this link for more information www.dovcor.com/comp.asp .

Thursday, Will took some time out of his busy chedule to school me in some of the Dovcor arts, such as Invoicing and Delivery notes, you know, the exciting stuff! The masterplans were created for Twitter and Facebook too!

And finally, Friday, we packed our new Oena range into the Dovcor battleship and set sail for Boldon! We also recieved some amazing enw sketches for our brochure! We spent some time looking over these and came to some decisions that we feel will make our brochure the best one around!

Thanks very much for reading, we hope you enjoyed this insight into our inner workings, and hope we'l see you again next week. In the mean time, why not pay us a visit at http://www.dovcor.com/ !!

A bath isn't just for Christmas...

2010-10-18T04:20:00.000-07:00