As Vita Spa’s largest UK dealer and having been named Pool & Spa Retailer of the Year at the UK Pool & Spa Awards, it is fair say 2015 was a red letter year for 1 Stop Spas.
After moving in to a bigger showroom premises in March and adding a second brand of hot tubs to its product portfolio, the Lincolnshire-based company saw its sales figures increase by more than 30 per cent on the previous year.
Managing director Chris Brady puts the success of the business down to a strong customer service ethos: “Our ongoing mission of aftercare first and sales second is an approach which a few companies in the industry find an alien concept, however, feedback from our customers say that this is the main reason they choose 1 Stop Spas over every other spa retailer in our market,” he says.
“It’s easy to promise the customer all of this, but the art of delivering this is no easy task, however our experience in this area ensures that every customer is looked after and treated individually.”
LEAP OF FAITH
“As much as we’ve driven the business hard in the last few years, the expansion of the retail arm of the business was all made possible a few of years ago with a business partnership deal with Vita Spa UK MD Richard Hart,” explains Chris.
Within a year of the partnership, Richard’s trust was rewarded with around 100 Vita spas sold in that first year. Chris says “The ongoing support that Richard and the team at Vita Spa UK and Jim McClure at Maax Spas USA has provided has been incredible, particularly with our transition into the new larger showroom which has paid dividends to all.”
1 Stop Spas was founded by spa engineer Chris in 2008 and was ABOVE: The 1 Stop Spas team pictured at the UK Pool & Spa Awards in November, after being named Pool & Spa Retailer of the Year.
SPECIALIST AFTERCARE
Although specialising in spa aftercare, Chris’ vision was to break the mould of the typical hot tub company and create a business that not only sells spas, but provides the complete end-to-end service.
As the business has grown, so has the team behind it. Chris remained the sole engineer and owner of the business until 2010, when his wife Melissa came on board to assist with the administration of the business, now a joint director in the company.
Melissa is responsible for the day to day running of the business, sales and customer accounts. Chris, now CEO, is responsible for all new business, products and general oversight.
The business has grown within the service department which now has a team of six engineers and service technicians, who look after all brands of spas and swim spas. Chris and Melissa have recently employed an additional spa consultant, Denise Barritt, who takes care of spa and accessory sales and is the customer point of contact for help and advice.
LOOKING FORWARD
Says Chris: “We have a huge year planned for 2016, although the focus of the company remains on looking after hot tub owners, the new year will see an expansion of our garden buildings and log cabin retail arm, an exciting new Marquis Spas 17ft ATV swim spa coming soon and plans of expanding our 16 spa indoor showroom even further.
“Another edition to our services will be the supply and installation of a new range of maintenance-free, composite decking and hot tub base solutions. We have just built three fantastic spa and swim spa buildings at our showroom, with more to come throughout the year.”
1 Stop Spas
Tel. +44 (0)1526 860006
www.1stopspas.com
