The Process

ENQUIRY

You contact us and we greet you with a clear sense of what we offer and how we can help you. We begin the process by helping you to define the scope of your project and your requirements. Some typical questions at this stage will include;

• Type of premises; retail/non-retail, location, size, new build or existing premises, level of services already available e.g. electricity, plumbing, ceiling etc.
• Project scope; deadline, target budget, “turnkey” etc.

At the end of this initial discussion, having established a common ground, we will suggest meeting with you in person, preferably on-site, to discuss your requirements in further detail.

PRELIMINARY MEETING

Typically, the preliminary meeting happens within 7 working days and usually we come to you. Sometimes, clients like to visit us in our showrooms in order to get a feel for the capabilities of the production facilities and to view some of our work. It is often most time efficient to combine this meeting with the Site Visit and Survey (see below) and we try to do this where possible. The preliminary meeting is all about you and your business and understanding where shopfitting fits into the overall picture. Once we have a common understanding of this we can focus more on the technical aspects of the building itself and specific shopfitting systems. At this stage, we will be getting as much detail as possible on;

• Your business; the concept, competitive edge, product mix, brand selection, stock management, merchandising approach, pricing approach, key competitors, customer profile, targets and objectives
• Your style; colours, materials, layout styles, favourite stores, any pictures and images of relevant designs, likes and most importantly dislikes

Very often, one's personal style may not work in a retail environment. At LSS, we believe in advising our customers honestly and we will challenge both our own and your ideas to ensure we arrive at the best solution

SITE VISIT AND SURVEY

This may be combined with the preliminary meeting or may be a separate step in the process, depending on the individual project. This is very much a technical step, aimed at getting as much technical information about the building and the project as possible. This allows us define the scope of the project, assess realistic budget requirements, identify problem areas and put together a design package that suits the building. It is important to note that we are not engineers and cannot advise on or undertake structural changes. However, we can point out those areas where you need to get additional advice. At the stage we measure and discuss the following:

• Space; internal length and width of building, internal height of building, location of doors and windows, your traffic-flow and merchandising objectives and preferences, your security concerns, your non-retail needs e.g. store rooms, staff facilities etc.
• Building quality and services; quality and finish of walls, type of ceiling available/required, type of floor available/required, electrics and wiring, availability and location of waste, heating and ventilation requirement etc,

DESIGN AND SPECIFICATION

Having gathered all the information, we go (literally) “back to the drawing board”, and develop a complete design package for you. This takes anything from 10 – 21 working days, depending on complexity, and has the following three key elements;

• Lay-out drawings: These are typically 2 Dimensional Auto-CAD drawings which show how we have allocated and planned your space to meet your objectives and maximise the return on your investment. Members of the Technical, design and sales staff all have an input here to ensure all the information and different objectives are included.
• Design drawings: These include 2 Dimensional elevations and 3 dimensional images of the interior of the premises. They are intended to give a flavour of the overall end look and provide initial detail on some key product elements e.g. counters, feature bays, centre floor gondolas etc.
• Budget: Based on the specification scope, we put together an initial budget estimate for you. Typically we will distinguish between the cost of building preparation and services (ceilings, floors, electrics etc.) and the cost of shopfitting.

At this stage, we engage our proven approach of balancing your creative, commercial and functional considerations.

PRESENTATION AND FEEDBACK

We meet with you again and present you with the design solution. We talk you through the layout in detail, explaining our reasoning and answering your questions. We also present you with the 2 and 3 dimensional images and will often have samples of the materials and systems proposed. Finally we discuss the budget estimate with you.

You are a vital part of the process, and we encourage you to express your approval and concerns about the design, installation process, budget and time frames frankly and in as much detail as possible.

(Beware of shopfitting companies that won’t leave drawings with you for your careful consideration! We do, because we have absolute faith that our expertise speaks for itself.)

REVISION AND FINAL PRESENTATION

Having got your feedback, we make any changes necessary and meet with you again for a final presentation and to finalise the contract. Following this meeting, we would expect you to have made a positive decision about working with Ledwith Shopfitting Solutions and standard practise is the payment of a booking deposit of 20% - 35% of project costs on signing the contract. It is usual that small or minor changes will continue to be made for a period after contract signing.

Up until this point, Ledwith Shopfitting Solutions does not charge for survey and design services (we are very confident that you will choose to work with us!). However, if after initial meetings and presentations, you require significant, additional design support, Ledwith Shopfitting Solutions will be obliged to discuss fees with you.

IMPLEMENTATION

On signing the contract, we will have agreed a start date for site installation and, more importantly, a date for handing over the finished site to you. Ledwith Shopfitting Solutions prides itself on meeting it deadlines, every time!

All projects differ in size and scope and our capacity varies weekly so implementation and lead times can vary from as little as four weeks to three months. To avoid disappointment and to allow for sufficient time for detailed design and specification, it is important to plan your fit-out well in advance. Of course, we have managed to get projects designed, built and installed to seemingly impossible deadlines so it is always worth giving us a call!