TFI - Affordable Quality
Listening to Tim Foley talk about kitchens or worktops you could be forgiven if you thought a night out with him might consist mainly of him blinding you with the science that you never thought existed in that room where the cooker is. He insists it wouldn’t, although his friends might not agree and would tell you he often ends up in a long conversation with any number of clients who often call to pick his brain even on a night out.
Foley, although passionate about his chosen profession for the past 28 years, has, for over ten years now, had a greater passion - to banish the elitist price tag that exists in the mindset of the average kitchen buyer aspiring to purchase the best quality kitchen products available at an affordable cost. To a large extent he is proving successful in his goal, if proof was needed then there’s a huge number of residential and commercial clients who can attest to the fact, having already utilised his services to purchase their Corian worktops or Silestone Quartz worktops through his company, T Foley Interiors (TFI).
“I’ve heard the argument and still do, from many in our industry, that worktops such as Corian or Silestone must hold their price and should retain a place at the high end of the market but it’s one driven by self serving technophobes who are ignorant of what the modern consumer wants and demands – affordable quality” he states. Ironically Foley ends his first volley at those he considers give the industry a bad name with his company’s motto – Affordable Quality online since 1999.
It was in1999 that Foley first went live with the website http://www.kitchensfitted.co.uk and today it is visited by over 1000 visitors a day seeking expert advice and quality products, among these worktops. Tim states that reaching the best results in search engines is down to educative content and free advice from an industry insider who knows the real costs of the products people seek and he has never paid the high fees required to be among the sponsored listings. So why is the company proving a such hit with Silestone and Corian worktop seeking buyers?
Tim explains “I believe it’s down to trust. We are transparent about how we operate, how we achieve the best prices and where we are located – we don’t operate from a PO Box address for instance and we openly encourage people to contact us or join our public forum to learn more about the worktops and other kitchen products we sell”.
Asking the question that consumers must ask - what makes you any different from the other companies who offer these worktops? I am left in no doubt by Foley’s response conveying his commitment kitchen consumers “As industry has known, since the first sale in the first cave - the power of the consumer can dictate the shape of the retail market. Given our huge and growing visitor numbers, we have taken their power and negotiated on their behalf with the major manufacturers and fabricators. In July of 2009 year we set up a major collaboration with one of the longest established fabricators in the business to bring the lowest prices available for bespoke worksurfaces"
Establishing a new business model, T Foley Interiors provide a steady stream of business to the fabricator in return for the fabricator signing up to a commitment of lowest prices for the consumer, lower in fact than if the consumer were to approach the fabricator direct.
There’s no doubting how successful the business model adopted by TFI is. In 2005 when TFI first began offering bespoke worktops, over the initial 18 month period, the company generated more than £635,000 worth of Corian and Silestone sales in it’s first collaboration with a national fabricator, a fact that resulted in one of the largest fabricators in the UK knocking on the TFI door to sign up to the company ethos – best quality sales and service at the most affordable costs.
So what’s next on the agenda? Foley enthuses “No other online company I am aware of is offering a finance package on bespoke worktops. Finance companies are very particular about the companies they accept and given that we are now able to offer finance on all our quartz worktops it's a clear indication of the confidence others have in TFI".
On parting I'm left in little doubt that the man is indeed committed to shaking up the "gentlemans club" mentality that seems to have an unwritten rule that certain products, not just in the kitchen industry, should remain at a price level out of reach for many and I guess I'm not the only person hoping he continues to succeed in his quest.
T Foley Interiors also operate the websites http://www.worktopsfitted.co.uk and http://www.worktops-
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
