E75. Tap Fittings by Nero Tapware with special guest Clint from Nero

 In this podcast episode of the Building Design, Prime Time Podcast, Frank and Amelia continue interviews at the Building Designers Association of Australia (BDAA) National Festival of Design at the trade night on location in Hobart at Wrestpoint Convention Centre. Frank and Amelia invite special guest Clint from Nero Tapware who discusses the journey of Nero Tapware, from its beginnings with Kevin carrying samples in a suitcase to becoming a successful business with 32 employees in Australia.

Clint highlights Nero's commitment to quality, innovation, and family-oriented business values, which have contributed to its growth and popularity. Trending tapware finishes like brushed bronze, brushed gold, and aged copper are explored, along with resources such as their website, and showrooms to inspire and guide customers on their journey to choosing the right shower and tap fittings for their home.

Clint emphasises the importance of staying ahead in design trends and the joy of working with a high-quality, supported product line focused on sustainability and their unique approach to taking care of their employees.

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Prime Design is a building design company locally owned and operated in Tasmania since 2004.  Our goal is to share as much valuable information as possible about the process of building design, extensions, and more. We will talk about a different topic each week. To suggest a topic you would like us to talk about contact us at info@primedesigntas.com.au

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Transcript

E75. Tap fittings by Nero tapware with special guest Clint from Nero

[INTRO] (0:09 - 0:24)

Welcome to the Building Design, Prime Time Podcast, focused on providing valuable information for anyone looking to undertake a new build or extension project. We'll share our tips, tricks and stories from a building designers perspective.

[Frank] (0:35 - 1:56)

Hi everyone. This is another podcast that we did at the Building Design Association National Design Festival at the trade night at West Point Casino. We had Nero Tapware come on, had Clint talking about what makes them so special.

But what we learned from this is like how they treat their team. And that I thought that was a great story. By the way, we're not being endorsed by any of these guys. I've dealt with a number of these suppliers over the years. So this is just purely independent, no kickbacks, no nothing. Hope you enjoy.

[Amelia]

Hello and welcome to the Building Design, Prime Time Podcast. I'm your host, Amelia. And once again, we're joined by Frank Geskus.

[Frank]

Hi Amelia. 

[Amelia]

Happy Thursday.

[Frank]

Happy Thursday on this beautiful location. 

[Amelia]

We're in Hobart. 

[Frank]

And at the trade show. 

[Amelia]

We're at the trade show. 

[Frank]

The BDAA trade show. 
 
 

[Amelia]

Yep, Building Designers Association of Australia. What a mouthful.

[Frank]

It is a little bit, isn't it? 

[Amelia]

And we've got a special guest here. 

[Frank]

Yes, we do.

[Amelia]

Welcome Clint from Nero. 

[Clint]

Thank you. Privileged to be here.

[Amelia]

Oh, look, it's great to have you. And we've been chatting to a few of the exhibitors tonight. And honestly, it's been awesome just to find out what sort of products are out there and just the creativity, the, you know, the inventions of what's coming out.

[Frank]

And also some of the sustainability components. 

[Amelia]

Yeah, exactly. 

[Frank] (1:57 - 2:37)

Learn about some of the products. It's really interesting. Everyone's got different takes on that. 

[Clint]

And we've got a heavy focus on sustainability right now as part of our business strategy as well. And have done so for the past couple of years. And one of the key things we've focused on is our packaging. So we've gone from a packaging recycling rate of 60% to a packaging recycling rate of 100%. So our packaging is 100% recyclable material. Even down to the tape that we use, it's actually paper-based tape. 

[Frank]

Really?

[Clint]

Yeah, paper-based sticky tape. But yeah, it's all paper-based and recyclable. Yeah, so there's that. And also what we're focusing on with some product launches that we could probably talk a little bit about as well. 

[Frank]

Yeah, okay. Great.

[Amelia] (2:37 - 2:39)

So you specialise in taps?

[Clint] (2:39 - 2:41)

Tapware, yeah, and accessories.

[Amelia] (2:41 - 2:46)

And so what sort of finishes and stuff can you get these days with tapware?

[Frank] (2:47 - 3:10)

Well, I'll talk Nero. Nero tapware specifically. So we do nine different colour finishes across the ten collections that we have. Now, not all colour finishes come in all the collections, but there's nine in total. And let me try and roll these off. So chrome, matte black, brushed nickel, brushed gold, brushed bronze, gunmetal, graphite, aged brass, matte white.

[Frank]

Wow.

[Amelia] (3:11 - 3:28)

Wow! Well done. That's really good. You did well to remember all of that.

[Frank]

You've been doing this for a while, haven't you? 

[Clint]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Frank]

But some of those finishes though, because you watch shows and magazines. 

[Clint]

And social media. 

[Frank]

Social media, black's been popular, but that brass, but that gold finish.

[Clint] (3:28 - 3:54)

Yeah, brushed gold, yeah. Well, we call it brushed gold. Everybody calls it something a little bit different, but we're very well known for our brushed gold, just as far as the colour finish is concerned. So there's varying different shades of, let's just call it gold for common purposes. But yeah, we get a lot of very good feedback from architects, designers and consumers in relation to brushed gold and brushed bronze as the other really popular colour.

[Frank] (3:54 - 3:58)

And the longevity of these coatings, because I suppose that's the key thing. It's a harsh environment.

[Clint] (3:58 - 4:41)

Yeah. Longevity. So you talk about harsh environment and longevity, that's a really good intro into where I was going to go, which is about a range of product that we've just launched.

It's called the ZenRange, made with 316L stainless steel. So without going into too much of the technical aspects. 

[Frank]

Whole thing's made of?

[Clint]

Whole thing's made of 316L stainless steel. 

[Frank]

Seriously?

[Clint]

Yeah, it is. So it's the best quality stainless steel that you can manufacture with. But as importantly, when it is manufactured, because it's got low carbon content, which is what the L stands for after the 316, because it's got low carbon content, it doesn't emit any emissions into the air through the manufacturing process. And it's 100% recyclable at the end of its life.

[Amelia] (4:42 - 4:42)

Wow.

[Clint] (4:42 - 4:58)

Yeah, but basically it's as sustainable as you can get for a living product. Nero's the only manufacturer slash supplier that is manufacturing 316L stainless steel. 

[Frank]

And is that a premium product in your range?

[Clint] (4:58 - 4:59)

In our range, yeah.

[Clint] (4:59 - 5:21)

That's one of our ultra-premium products. But the biggest thing you talk about is the finish, right? So yes, that's great.

Sustainability-wise, that's fantastic. But the other part of sustainability is longevity of the product. 

[Frank]

Yes, totally agree.

[Clint]

We've got a 25-year warranty on that product that can sit outside in any environment. And that's due to the technology that we've got as part of our manufacturing process.

[Frank](5:22 - 5:23)

25 years on a tap.

[Clint] (5:24 - 5:28)

Living outside, right? Living outside too. That’s next level.

[Amelia] (5:28 - 5:29)

That is next level.

[Clint] (5:29 - 5:43)

So all our premium ranges are 25 years as far as the finish is concerned. But to be able to talk about a product that lives outside and providing a 25-year warranty, it just goes to show. 

[Frank]

That's exceptional.

[Clint]

How good the quality of the product is.

[Frank] (5:44 - 5:59)

And I suppose the amount of products that are available out there right now. Go to Bunnings, you've got all of the stuff you can choose. And who’s to it’s going to last more than a couple of years, some of those. And we know that. And it's just what you pay for what you get for it, don't you?

[Clint] (5:59 - 6:00)

Yeah, correct. That is right.

[Frank] (6:00 - 6:04)

And we always talk about budget on our podcast.

[Amelia] (6:04 - 6:04)

We do.

[Frank] (6:05 - 6:14)

Renovating, new house, whatever. But you've also got to pick products that you really need to last. Because it drives me nuts replacing stuff at home.

[Clint] (6:14 - 7:00)

And on that note, so yes, one of our missions at Nero is to provide the Australian public with high-quality tapware product at a very competitive or reasonable price point. I'm not going to call it competitive because that's in a little bit of different terms. But yeah, because we're a family-owned business, the family owned the manufacturing facility.

So we control the process from start to finish. 

[Frank]

Where is it manufactured? Manufactured in China.

[Clint]

So pretty much every tapware piece that you'll see sold in retail is manufactured in China. 

[Frank]

But it makes sense. 

[Clint]

Yeah, absolutely. But because we've got a very flat model, so therefore we're not relying on any third parties to manufacture any of our product. It's all manufactured in-house. 

[Frank]

It's your factory in China though?

[Clint]

Yeah, it's our factory in China.

[Frank] (7:00 - 7:01)

So you have 100% control over it?

[Clint] (7:01 - 8:08)

100% control of the process right the way through. From design, we do all our own in-house design, all the way to delivery to a retailer. From there, we're relying on the retailer to deliver it to the consumer.

But outside of that component, we manage the rest of it all the way through. We have very, very high-quality control measures in place. And where I'm getting to is the fact that because of all of that, we don't have the overheads that other tapware manufacturers or suppliers actually have.

So when people see and touch and feel the quality of our product, and then the next question they'll ask is, so what's the cost? Quite often, they're extremely surprised with what sort of value they're hearing based on the cost.

[Frank]

Bang for your buck.

[Clint]

Yeah, 100%. So yeah, it's a good story. And yeah, and then people can have, you know, everyone's got a budget.

Well, most people have got a budget. So if you do have a budget, I mean... 

[Frank]

99% of the public actually has a budget.

[Clint]

Exactly. Exactly. But we'll have something in our range that can suit anyone's budget.

But it's all at the same quality level. It's just, you know, different collections have different warranty periods and... that type of thing too

[Frank]

Yeah, of course. Yeah. Awesome.

[Amelia] (8:08 - 8:14)

So what about combating water saving? Is that something that Nero looks into when they're designing their tapware?

[Clint] (8:14 - 8:45)

Yeah, no, we definitely do that when we go through our manufacturing process. So as I said, we're not only the supplier, we're the manufacturer. It's a family-owned and operated business with ownership across the manufacturing facility through to the supply chain into Australia and New Zealand.

We have extensive R&D capabilities, which ensures when we design our products, we always have water saving as a key aspect of the process. An example I can share on that is that we are now manufacturing showers that fully comply with the six-star rating process.

[Amelia] (8:45 - 8:46)

Oh, wow.

[Clint] (8:46 - 9:03)

So we recently launched that in the last few months. So yeah, so it definitely is. 

[Frank]

Is the R&D in Australia?

[Clint]

No, the R&D is in China as well. 

[Frank]

But it's your guys. 

[Clint]

Yes.

[Frank]

Not third party. 

[Clint]

Not third party. No, everything is in-house. Even the chef's in-house.

[Frank] (9:03 - 9:05)

Okay, fair enough. 

[Amelia]

Wow.

[Frank] (9:06 - 9:08)

No, don't look at me. We're not giving the chef for work.

[Amelia] (9:09 - 9:10)

It was worth a try.

[Clint] (9:10 - 9:16)

Well, and this is where, you know, this family-owned business, family-owned culture, right? So if I can just share a short story.

[Amelia] (9:17 - 9:17)

Yeah, of course.

[Speaker 1] (9:17 - 9:43)

So when the manufacturing facility first opened in 2004, nearly all of the staff lived outside of the province because the province is not an area where the tapware is normally produced. So what the family decided to do is build hotel-style accommodation on the same site as the manufacturing facility above the offices and they would house the staff Monday to Friday so they didn't have to drive in and drive out.

[Amelia] (9:43 - 9:43)

Wow.

[Clint] (9:43 - 10:12)

And provide them three meals a day. What that's led to is the fact that we've had very little turnover since 2004 and because of the opportunity that the Nero family have provided these individuals, they've been able to actually purchase property within the province. So the accommodation rate now sits at about 5%, but every day our staff get two meals a day, so they get breakfast and lunch cooked by our in-house chef on a daily basis.

[Frank] (10:12 - 10:14)

That's amazing. 

[Amelia]

That is awesome. I think we need that.

[Frank] (10:14 - 10:18)

That's looking after your team. Don't look at me that way.

[Amelia] (10:18 - 10:21)

But you know I'm a foodie, Frank. 

[Frank]

I know.

[Clint] (10:21 - 10:25)

And trust me, the food's good too. 

[Frank]

Oh, sounds wicked.

[Amelia] (10:25 - 10:30)

I think we're going to need a tour of this facility. Get some ideas. Maybe sample the food.

[Frank] (10:30 - 10:31)

No, you're not getting ideas.

[Amelia] (10:31 - 10:31)

Oh.

[Clint] (10:32 - 10:34)

And it's a banquet each and every time.

[Amelia] (10:34 - 10:38)

Oh my goodness. You're going to have to install a gym as well then, I think.

[Clint] (10:38 - 10:38)

Yeah.

[Frank] (10:39 - 10:40)

We’ve have got so many babies.

[Amelia] (10:41 - 10:41)

A daycare.

[Frank] (10:42 - 10:43)

They want a daycare as well.

[Clint] (10:43 - 10:50)

Yeah, well, maybe. Who knows? But yeah, so it's a really nice story that we like to share.

[Frank] (10:50 - 10:51)

That’s amazing, I love that.

[Clint] (10:51 - 12:00)

Yeah, and not because we're trying to pump up our brand around it. It's just the nature of the business. We're lucky here in Australia as well.

So the background is that the son, Kevin, was educated here in Victoria and he started the Nero business 13 years ago, carrying around a couple of pieces of tapware in a suitcase from his dad's manufacturing facility, and then he's built that business over the last 13 years to where it is today. We've got 32 employees here in Australia, which includes our distribution team and our sales team, and we get treated like extended family as well. So we're really lucky to have the opportunity to work for a business such as this.

[Frank]

Well, you know, I love hearing that because, yeah, you look after your people, they look after you. Yeah, yeah, exactly right. That's how it works.

And, you know, sometimes there's nowhere to hide and other times there's stress that's involved in all of that, but at the same time, you know, we're really well rewarded and we get the luxury of going out and selling and marketing a really high-quality product with the understanding that the support's behind us from a serviceability level, stock availability level. So it's really quite easy if I was to be honest.

[Frank] (12:00 - 12:23)

Wow. That's awesome. Oh, I'm just blown away by that, you know, because that's just that whole – they have that purpose, they know what they're doing, they're getting out there and just doing it and living it.

[Clint]

Yeah, exactly right. 

[Amelia]

So what are some of the most popular colour combinations and finishes moving into 2025? Is there something that's really hot off the press and just really selling like hotcakes?

[Clint] (12:24 - 12:42)

Oh, without doubt, the trend's moving more and more towards colour with brushed bronze and brushed gold leading the way. So they're really shooting up the leaderboard of those nine colour finishes that I alluded to earlier on. And aged copper is also starting to come into its own, especially for the industrial design space as well.

[Amelia] (12:42 - 12:46)

That would look nice, actually, a bit of timber and copper finish.

[Clint] (12:46 - 12:48)

And then I'll just say, watch this space.

[Amelia] (12:48 - 12:50)

Okay, so there's more to come.

[Clint] (12:50 - 12:52)

There's always more to come when it comes to Nero.

[Frank] (12:52 - 12:55)

Of course there would be because you've got to stay ahead of the game, don't you?

[Clint] (12:55 - 12:55)

Yeah, absolutely.

[Frank] (12:55 - 12:59)

Where are the trend's going. 

[Clint]

Yeah, you do, you do. 

[Frank]

And that's on top of just having a quality product.

[Clint] (12:59 - 12:59)

Yeah.

[Frank] (13:00 - 13:06)

You can have a quality product and if it doesn't have the look people want, it doesn't sell.

[Clint] (13:06 - 13:13)

It doesn't sell. That's right. 

[Frank]

It's like cars.

[Clint]

Yeah, exactly right. Look at the EV industry right now. 

[Frank]

Yeah, exactly right.

[Clint]

Pretty crazy.

[Amelia] (13:13 - 13:14)

Gone bonkers.

[Frank] (13:14 - 13:15)

Yeah, it is.

[Amelia] (13:15 - 13:24)

If anyone's struggling to choose a product, what do you recommend can help them sort of get started? Are there any resources that you have available?

[Clint] (13:25 - 13:49)

Yeah, absolutely. So we always suggest our website is the best source of information. They can download brochures, view all our collections and colours, download specification sheets and also use our really neat wish list function where they can select their products of choice and download this for future reference.

For inspiration, we would suggest our Instagram page with over 55,000 followers. So everybody, Nero Tapware, get on the bandwagon and help us increase.

[Frank] (13:49 - 13:54)

55,000 people following you on your tapware, 

[Clint]

correct? 

[Amelia]

I think we've got a while before we catch up to that, Frank.

[Frank] (13:54 - 13:54)

Oh, we’re not even close to that.

[Amelia] (13:54 - 13:56)

I've got my work cut out for me.

[Frank] (13:56 - 14:32)

Yeah, you have. 

[Clint]

And that makes us the number two bathroom supplier being followed on this platform. So it is where we spend a lot of our marketing resource goes into that space as well because, you know, when it comes to the influencer market that certainly…

[Frank]

Oh, I totally understand. 

[Clint]

Yeah, exactly. So yeah, there's a few different ways to do it. Otherwise, you know, we've got 1,000 showrooms that stock our product across the country. So they can always walk in to our trained sales consultants being we're training the sales consultants on our product to get the required education they need to make a purchase decision.

[Frank] (14:32 - 14:49)

Awesome. All right. 

[Amelia]

Well, we might start wrapping up there. Thank you so much, Clint, for coming in and talking to us about Nero Tapware. I think I'm going to need a bit of inspiration for my house. 

[Frank]

This isn't about that chef thing again.

[Amelia]

Oh, and that as well. Yeah. Oh, no. I'm in trouble. Oh, okay. 

[Frank]

But the tapware, definitely.

[Clint] (14:50 - 14:51)

Definitely look at the tapware.

[Amelia] (14:52 - 14:55)

Definitely look at the tapware. Thank you so much, Clint, for coming in.

[Frank] (14:55 - 14:59)

Thanks for sharing that story. 

[Amelia]

Yeah, that's so cool. 

[Frank]

I love that.

[Clint]

Appreciate the time.

[Amelia] (15:00 - 15:02)

Thanks for listening to the Building Design, Prime Time Podcast.

[Frank] (15:03 - 15:03)

Catch ya’s later.

[OUTRO] (15:04 - 15:17)

Music You're listening to the Building Design, Prime Time Podcast.