This year marks the 20th anniversary of Target Fixings and the 10th anniversary of sister company Target Structural. As such, Emma Spence-Herbert, Target's events coordinator, spoke to Robert Hall, Target's Managing Director to get his views on the last 20 years of Target.
Wow, so 20 years of Target! How do you feel?
To be honest the time has flown by! When Target was first set up in 1997 it was an unknown brand. I feel very proud of what has been achieved with the introduction of brand new repair solutions and introducing these to many professionals who were very sceptical as to whether they would work in the way we had proven by testing.
Absolutely. Do you have a favourite year from the last 20?
Every year has its highs - and its lows. Every year brings new challenges to come up with solutions to our various client's problems. We pride ourselves in being able to solve most problems that are requested of us. As we become better known and accepted by building professionals we are asked to take on larger, more complex projects and requests for solutions become even more of a challenge.
That's true. But do you have a favourite project that Target has been involved in?
Easy. The next one. It always brings a new challenge and problems to overcome. From a bungalow to a castle they are all favourites. I am in a very privileged position where I have visited parts of buildings where only very few people, other than the original builders, have ever been permitted to venture such as above the vaulted ceilings in churches in the Czech Republic and France as well as many historic buildings across the UK. However, despite this I still get very jealous when I hear stories about other interesting projects the rest of the team have surveyed!
What is your favourite part of Target?
The business as a whole. I am lucky enough to still have involvement with everything going on, but try not to get too involved! I am very fortunate to have several very talented teams working for the company, from our technical guys who dig up obscure projects to our warehouse team who bring new products to life and our on-site team who are consistently keeping to Target's mantra as a high quality problem solver.
But the events and marketing team is still your favourite, right?
[laughs] Of course! I see some of the interesting venues you pick and wish we could work on them!
Thanks, it's fun to find them! So where do you hope Target will be in the next 10 years?
We are just starting the rollout of our franchise operation for Target Structural, giving people the opportunity to share in our success and spread the Target name nationwide. I would love to see a number of very successful franchisees operating with as much enthusiasm and energy as I had 20 years ago! For me personally, the enthusiasm is still there but the energy is, unfortunately, starting to wane! Fortunately I have a number of younger members of staff who I can rely on that are starting to understand the business, so my confidence is high for the future progress in working with more and more building professionals and homeowners and expanding our philosophy of repairing masonry structures.
Thank you for giving up your time to speak to us Robert.
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We will be closing to the public on 21 December for the Christmas period. We open again on 2 January.
