20 Years of my Business in Loos! 2004-2024 - Johnny Bacigalupo (Class of 1995)

Twenty years have flown past….all those worries, sleepless nights, anxieties about having enough to pay all the wages, the bills, thinking about our clients at 2.30am or 4am in the morning and worrying about if there will be more people in need of our products and services the following day, the following week and ongoing. Two recessions, price-rises, product supply issues, massive flooding of the showroom, Brexit, Covid and all the new and unforeseen challenges that no one ever prepared you for – all on your back, all for you to solve and then motivate others to keep going. Non-domestic rates suddenly up almost 40%, electricity doubling in price and all the complexities that come with employing people. The list is endless and there’s no university, no rule book and nobody else’s shoulder to cry on. The very best advice was that of my late Mum, who was a director of my business for 17 years – “pull yourself together son and get on with it!”

I remember registering the business in 2004 at Companies House in Edinburgh, Napier Bathrooms & Interiors Limited. It cost around £12. My Mum came along with me as in those days you needed another Director and Company Secretary. She volunteered for the job and there was no better a person to support me. I opened the bank account at Bank of Scotland, and I felt ever so proud when the larger than normal cheque book arrived in the post along with the Bank Giro Credit slips for all the cheques I’d be paying in ongoing!

I had secured premises on Brandon Terrace in Edinburgh; I agreed a 3-year lease and started the renovations. Three years I thought….I hope that I can last for 3 years! I had to open for business whilst introducing products for display and my first product introductions were Roca, Ultra-Finishing Taps, Ceramic Tiles from Paul DiRollo and various other offerings from hugely supportive suppliers. In those days our distributors were usually owned by the senior management and the reps became extended family. I warmly and gratefully recall people like Sandra Gettie, Ian Cram, Alan Dodds, John Gilmore and Ian McAdam who were all there with regular visits and much support. Roca and Napier have always shared a very special friendship which took me to so many places around Spain. I will never forget the 100 years of Roca celebration in Barcelona – it was indeed the greatest party ever, a spectacular with no expense spared.

There were very challenging and hard times to come. I remember working so hard to win a contract of the design, supply and installation of 12 bathrooms for a luxury house builder in Edinburgh. I worked tirelessly to bring together a unique feel to each of the spaces within the four homes. In those days, I had not yet been bitten by the rogues and devious demons of business and sadly this was to happen. I supplied the products and installation having only taken a small deposit and the Developer went deliberately bankrupt overnight. We never did get paid from the new company secretary who happened to be his girlfriend! Strangely the previous director was still seen at the development in his shiny new Range Rover but no matter what we did, there were no funds to pay us. Weeks of sleepless nights, worrying about this cancer that had infected all my savings, hard work and passion for success. Thankfully a close family member offered me his savings to cover me for a while, with the condition that I would pay it all back – which I promised to do and did. I’m so grateful for the trust and belief that he put in me in those days. A trust and belief which I honour and respect to this day. I’m so proud that Napier Bathrooms is the very same limited company it was on day 1 as it is today. We have always paid our way honestly and ethically. We have not played the ugly and dirty games of so many in our industry who keep the misleading signs above the door whilst playing the ‘limited company game’ behind the scenes. The saying “at least Dick Turpin wore a mask” comes to mind. We survived and we grew stronger as a result. More charlatans were to come and to go. We knew how to attend to them now, we could see them coming!

Growth and investment in 2011, we moved the business premises to 30 Canonmills. A derelict bakery in the heart of Edinburgh, about 40 meters down the road. This was a very serious move that meant we would own our building and make it exactly what we wanted it to be. When I think back to what I took on, I cannot believe it. Twenty-six tonnes of metal waste to remove from the rat-infested building and only the 4 walls of the building standing when we started. But we did it. Only the photos and my disbelief remain of what we actually achieved at that time. When I look at them now, I think – what on Earth was I doing. The risk, the energy, and the passion for creating my showroom was like a drug to me. I worked seven days a week for years to make it all happen. I recruited friends, family, and others to assist me in my pursuit of looking at something that would make me proud and show what we, at Napier, could achieve. We did it and on the 19th October 2011, The Lord Provost of Edinburgh visited and officially opened the business premises. It was the beginning of a new era for me and the business. I remember thinking how much I loved the light from the big new windows! For the seven years previous, I’d worked from a subterranean basement under the premises in Brandon Terrace – no natural light or window at all. Probably wouldn’t be allowed these days!

Since then, we have continued to grow and develop, innovating and connecting with inspirational products such as TOTO and GESSI amongst many others. We’ve won many awards including the coveted KBB’s UK Bathroom Showroom of the Year in 2022. We’ve supported local charities financially and by sitting on their boards and contributing with countless hours of work and commitment to them.

But what has been the highlight, what has been the biggest reward to date? It has to be the people – the clients (many of them Watsonians), the suppliers, the community we have become part of. I celebrate many colleagues who have worked for Napier and especially my team today who are the future of the company. I have met some of my greatest friends through having this business. It has changed my life, and all the pressure, struggles, sleepless nights and worry has brought me so much fun, laughter, love and experiences that I would otherwise have not had. Today I celebrate the knowledge and experience I have in both the bathroom industry and in small business, the confidence in knowing that every challenge has a solution and don’t worry so much about things; the real troubles in life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind.