WRITING & CONVERSATIONS · 2019–2024
From the Archives.
Older articles, interviews and industry conversations, recovered from previous publications and archives. A record of the Liberty years, the challenges of the Covid period, and the conversations about design, installation and skills that followed.
Much of this writing began while I was running Liberty Fitting Service. It came from fitting kitchens, working with designers, talking to customers and building a business in the trade. Looking back brings those experiences together: the everyday details of a kitchen project alongside the bigger questions about how our industry works.
Each piece belongs to its original time. The publication and date are shown, with a short introduction explaining its place in this collection. The original wording and tone are preserved, with only obvious typos and formatting errors corrected.
WHERE MUCH OF THIS BEGAN
The Liberty years.
Liberty Fitting Service began in 1996, when I focused on kitchen and bathroom installation, and incorporated in 2003. From its Dundee base on the east coast of Scotland, it grew into a nationally recognised and award-winning installation business.
At its peak, I stepped away from Liberty in 2024, to focus on other adventures. These articles preserve part of my time there: the work, the people, and the practical experience behind the opinions.
2019–2020 · THE LIBERTY YEARS
Design, installation
and business.
The collection opens with Standing Out for BiKBBI, then follows the Design It Out / Fitter’s Advice run in Kitchens & Bathrooms News. These columns brought an installer’s eye to the drawing board: plans, lighting, floors, storage and the way a family actually uses its kitchen.
They were short, practical pieces drawn from the Liberty years. Taken together, they show why the details that seem small in a design can make a real difference when someone has to install it—and when a customer has to live with it.
FROM THE ORIGINAL PUBLICATIONS
An installer’s perspective,
in print.
Original K&B News covers provide a glimpse of the publications behind these columns. The recovered articles are presented below as readable text.
BiKBBI · 26 March 2019
Standing Out
Originally written for BiKBBI in March 2019, while I was running Liberty Fitting Service, this piece asked why so many businesses settle for struggling or simply getting by. It explored the idea of standing out from that familiar middle ground. I’m including it here because it captures an early part of my thinking about building an installation business with a clear identity, rather than relying on being busy alone.
Kitchens & Bathrooms News · 8 May 2019
Work with fitters
Published by Kitchens & Bathrooms News in May 2019 as part of Design It Out, this article looked at the often difficult relationship between kitchen fitters and designers. Written from my experience at Liberty Fitting Service, it asked how the industry could get those two sides working together more effectively. It belongs in the archive as an early contribution to a conversation I have returned to throughout my writing: a good kitchen depends on the people designing and installing it understanding each other.
Kitchens & Bathrooms News · 13 June 2019
Don’t forget annotation
First published in Kitchens & Bathrooms News in June 2019, this Design It Out column focused on annotation: the information that turns a kitchen plan into something an installer can work from. It came from the practical experience of fitting kitchens at Liberty Fitting Service. I’m republishing it as part of the original series because clear drawings and clear instructions were central to the relationship between a designer’s intentions and what happened on site.
Kitchens & Bathrooms News · 29 July 2019
Consider lighting at start
This July 2019 Design It Out column for Kitchens & Bathrooms News considered lighting at the beginning of a kitchen design. Written during my years at Liberty Fitting Service, it brought an installer’s perspective to a decision that affects both the finished room and the work needed to achieve it. It is included here as part of the recovered series on considering the practical details while a project is still on the drawing board.
Kitchens & Bathrooms News · September 2019
Think sustainably / Consider waste separation bins
Originally published in Kitchens & Bathrooms News in September 2019 under the heading “Think sustainably”, this column looked at waste separation bins as a small but useful part of kitchen design. It drew on a conversation with one of our Liberty customers, whose children had taken to sorting and emptying the new bins. I’m including it here because it shows how a practical design choice can influence the way a family uses its kitchen every day.
Kitchens & Bathrooms News · October 2019
Choosing flooring
First published in Kitchens & Bathrooms News in October 2019, this Fitter’s Advice column looked beyond the appearance of a floor to the home it would be used in. Children, pets, heating, the subfloor and the rooms below all entered the conversation, along with my own less-than-perfect choice of kitchen flooring. It is preserved here as part of the original Design It Out run, with the installer’s experience and the humour of the piece intact.
Kitchens & Bathrooms News · 2019
Don’t be ‘Vanilla’
Written for Kitchens & Bathrooms News during the Liberty years, this Fitter’s Advice column challenged the habit of replacing a kitchen with much the same layout and calling the job done. It considered the influence of television, social media and overseas design ideas on customers’ expectations. I’m republishing it as part of the original series because it captures the encouragement I wanted to give designers: use the opportunity to create a kitchen that feels different.
Kitchens & Bathrooms News · December 2019
Consider Christmas every day
Published in Kitchens & Bathrooms News in December 2019, this Fitter’s Advice column used Christmas Day as a test of kitchen design. Could people load the dishwasher, use the oven and move around the room without getting in each other’s way? Written from my Liberty installation experience, it considered appliances, storage, worktop space and open-plan living. It is included here because the busiest day in a kitchen can reveal how well that kitchen works throughout the year.
Kitchens & Bathrooms News · 28 January 2020
Use reputable installers
First published in Kitchens & Bathrooms News on 28 January 2020 as part of Design It Out, this column reminded designers that the person installing a kitchen matters as much as the plan. It was written while I was running Liberty Fitting Service and forms part of the recovered series about the connection between design and installation. I’m including it here to preserve that original contribution to the conversation about choosing the people entrusted to bring a kitchen together.
2020 · A PARTICULAR MOMENT IN KBB HISTORY
The Covid years.
Lockdown changed the rhythm of working life almost overnight. The diaries and conversations from that period preserve something that a later account can easily lose: the uncertainty, the improvised solutions and the ordinary business of trying to keep going.
kbbreview · 24 June 2020
kbbreview Unlockdown Diaries: The Fitter
Published by kbbreview on 24 June 2020, this diary followed my working week at Liberty Fitting Service as retail reopened after the first lockdown. Material shortages, distancing, furlough and Zoom surveys sat alongside the ordinary phone calls, customers and small frustrations of running an installation company. I’m republishing the diary as a snapshot of that particular week, 15–20 June 2020. Its circumstances, humour and uncertainty belong to that time.
JONES DIGITAL · EPISODE 27 · 2020
The Lockdown
Diaries.
Recorded for Jones Digital’s Lockdown Diaries and listed in my publications on 14 December 2020, Episode 27 was part of a series of conversations about how people and businesses were dealing with the pandemic. Those interviews were later brought together in a physical book, which I still have. The interview and my page from that book are included here as a small piece of KBB history, preserving the human side of a period that changed working life across the industry.
2022–2023 · A WIDER CONVERSATION
Skills, workforce
and North America.
The later Liberty writing reached beyond individual projects to the people our industry depends on. Contributions to Kitchen & Bath Business brought an installation perspective to a North American readership, while the apprenticeship feature returned to the practical work of bringing new people into the trade.
The questions were connected: how to cope with a shortage of skills, how designers and installers could support each other, and how a business could help build the next generation. These pieces record where those conversations stood in 2022 and 2023.
Kitchen & Bath Business / KBB Collective · 31 January 2022
Coping Strategies for the Trades Shortage
First published by Kitchen & Bath Business on 31 January 2022, this article brought my experience at Liberty Fitting Service to a North American discussion about the shortage of skilled tradespeople. It considered what customers, retailers, manufacturers, salespeople and contractors could do while a longer-term solution was being built. I’m republishing it because it records an earlier stage of the workforce conversation, including the importance of apprenticeships and cooperation across the Atlantic.
Kitchen & Bath Business / KBB Collective · 18 April 2022
How Installers and Designers Can Help Each Other
Published by Kitchen & Bath Business on 18 April 2022, this article explored the relationship between installers and designers through five familiar foundations: respect, communication, honesty, compromise and trust. It was written while I was director of Liberty Fitting Service, drawing on years of seeing that relationship at work on real projects. It is included here as an earlier piece about the teamwork needed to turn a design into a successful installation and a satisfied customer.
Kitchens & Bathrooms News · 12 April 2023
Apprenticeships are key to success
Published by Kitchens & Bathrooms News on 12 April 2023, this feature looked at apprenticeships through Liberty Fitting Service’s experience of bringing people into the trade. It explained why a KBB apprenticeship could offer a worthwhile route for a school-leaver or someone changing careers. I’m including it here as part of the company’s story and the wider discussion about investing in skills, creating opportunities and helping the next generation find its place in the industry.
INTERVIEWS · PODCASTS · INDUSTRY CONVERSATIONS
Watch & Listen.
From the Archives.
Longer conversations offer a different record from a written column. This selection brings together discussions about running a trade business, the installation crisis and the journey behind Liberty. The Jones Digital interview sits above, alongside the other Covid material.
LiveCosts · 10 September 2021
Running a trade business
A conversation about the experience of running an installation business, with the practical pressures and decisions behind the work. Included as part of the spoken record of the Liberty years.
kbbreview podcast · 16 August 2021
The installation crisis
An industry conversation about installation capacity and the pressures facing the KBB sector as it emerged from lockdown. A companion to the later writing on skills and workforce shortages.
Kevin D. Bannister · 13 May 2024
Mark Conacher’s business journey
A longer conversation reflecting on building Liberty and why a business needs to stand out. It connects the company’s story with ideas explored in the earliest written piece in this archive.
The conversation continues.
For recent articles and current conversations about the trade, visit Writing & Media.