Keeping Hezekiah proud of his heritage!

We know the world has changed since the day my wife’s great grandfather opened the doors of HM James to the population of East London. Hezekiah Morris James (HM James!) had decided that getting a bathroom for his own property was far too difficult so he took it upon himself to set up his own bathroom showroom and shop. Nowadays we would say “what an entrepreneur” but in 1880 there were many people who saw opportunities to do things better than what was already available - albeit there wasn’t that much available at all! Yet as I sit and tap this I think to myself that we still share some of those beliefs of our pioneering fore-father. Our passion is not about quick bucks, upselling, shady postage costs or service driven by a premium rate phone number – quite simply our pleasure comes from getting it right time and time again. We have an amazing wealth of experience in our team, adding it up the full time team have amassed over 120 years of experience in this business. My brother-in-law only came in to help out as a Saturday job when he was 16 and some (cough) years later he is still here! That experience comes in very handy when you are carrying around 10,000 items of stock at any one time, with many of those items spare or replacement parts for items that maybe 30 plus years old. So whilst a big multi-national may look at our stock list and shake their head we know that every day customers contact us from far and wide and we help them find replacement bathroom items as well as discontinued porcelain pieces that they need to replace a broken, cracked or damaged piece. Many, many of the items that were discontinued by manufacturers such as Armitage Shanks, Ideal Standard etc - as they introduce new ranges they have dropped the production of replacement piece for older bathrooms. When we have run out of stock of these bathroom items, we simply, make our own at our own manufacturing site in the Potteries region nr Stoke-on-Trent. Each item is reproduced using traditional methods that ensures the item is the same colour, specification and, of course, size to the original. This makes sure that even your favourite Auntie won’t spot it’s a replacement bathroom piece! One think that does cause confusion for some of our customers though is how, over the years, brands have changed the names of their suites and the colours they use, leaving many customers scratching their heads as their search to replace a discontinued item. Well until we find a way of putting our staff’s experience on a website to show you which item WILL work for you can I propose a plan for you? Give us a call on 0208 477 1000 or drop us a line at info@hmjames.co.uk and we will be delighted to help. We hope that we do Hezekiah James proud!