Need guidance on how to write this year’s nominations? Here are some of the best from 2008 to give you some ideas of how to structure your nomination, explain your achievements and quantify your results to enable the judges to gain a complete picture of all the hard work that went into being the best.
- TRAINEE OF THE YEAR
- BEST BUILDERS' MERCHANT SHOWROOM
- BEST BUILDERS' MERCHANT HARD LANDSCAPING DISPLAY
- BEST HEATING AND PLUMBING MERCHANT
- BEST BUILDERS' MERCHANT WEBSITE
- BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE BY A BUILDERS’ MERCHANT
- BEST BUILDERS’ MERCHANT MARKETING INITIATIVE
- BUILDERS' MERCHANT ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVE AWARD
- ACHIEVER OF THE YEAR
- BUILDERS' MERCHANT MANAGER OF THE YEAR
- INDEPENDENT BUILDERS' MERCHANT OF THE YEAR (1-5 BRANCHES)
- INDEPENDENT BUILDERS' MERCHANT OF THE YEAR (6+ BRANCHES)
- NATIONAL BUILDERS' MERCHANT OF THE YEAR
- SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR
- BUILDERS' MERCHANT LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Richard Cosgrove – EH Smith (Builders' Merchants)
Richard joined EH Smith through the Trainee Programme in July 2006, aged 20. Two years on, Richard's dedication and willingness to succeed has accelerated his career ahead of all expectations, not to mention making him an invaluable asset to the company.
The Trainee Programme built Richard's basic product knowledge through trade counter, yard and sales office experience at Solihull. Richard's potential became very apparent and he was swiftly offered a place on the EH Smith Management Development Programme.
Having developed an interest in bricks, Richard started on the busy Brick Desk at Solihull, quickly learning the buying and selling process, while building a great rapport with colleagues and customers.
Set up a new brick samples library at both Solihull and Cannock branches. Re-organising and updating samples, labelled to correct works, designing and creating a new database to support the new system.
After 10 months Richard re-located to Cannock working as the brick specialist on the trade counter, proactively building his own customer base with regular local builders in the area.
Having demonstrated his skills and understanding, he was given opportunity to do the brick matching for Cannock branch, visiting customer sites, working closely with suppliers and customers to provide a high level of service. Richard built a portfolio of jobs and monitored the success rate of each brick match, achieving nearly 80% conversion from brick match to order.
Off the back of this he nurtured an entire new customer base for general materials from linked sales.
In October 2007, he applied for and successfully acquired the position of direct brick sales representative in Solihull. This developed his selling skills in a new area, covering the whole major project specification process, from architect to completion. He works with architects nationally, specifying bricks and other façade materials for major UK projects.
Richard completed a number of in-house courses in sales, marketing and networking, plus a management team-building weekend and a bespoke business simulation training course in specification sales.
He completed a Business Management HNC in June 2008 with distinction grades throughout. Now attending night school to convert this into an HND, he is working towards a degree in business management.
Among his most recent achievements, Richard won specifications for a number of large projects - Woodington Care Home (Sutton Coldfield), supplying all façade materials, including bricks, tiles and natural stone, worth in the region of £450 000 at around 15% gross profit.
He worked closely with a number of key architects - Lyons Sleeman & Hoare (Hampshire), on the £260m Wolverhampton town centre redevelopment project. The bricks he put forward are currently being specified, likely to return around £80K profit.
Richard recently started working with Porphyrios Architects specifying materials for the £1bn+ Kings Cross development - currently specifying over a million bricks, along with precast stone and precast brick arches.
The impressive value of Richard's current projects are likely generate approx £300K profit over the next 18 months for EH Smith.
Richard has also impressed individuals at every level of EH Smith with his passion, dedication and clear trading ability.
Even at just 22, his contribution to the business has been outstanding, consistently exceeding expectation at every turn.
It is fair to say Richard is arguably the most successful trainee ever to come through any of the EH Smith training programmes; a superb and worthy role model for the younger trainees who follow.
BEST BUILDERS' MERCHANT SHOWROOMJackson Building Centres (Lincoln branch)
The existing showroom was tired and old fashioned with products which were readily available at most outlets. In 2006, sales were substantially down in terms of sterling value, largely as a result of concentrating on core stock lines and missing out on the aspirational products that were emerging.
In recognition of the trend of wealthy families relocating to this region, we strove to bring London to Lincoln.
The objective was to convert the entire showroom into an upmarket environment, crisp and clutter-free, using natural light wherever possible to highlight the products available as well as ceramic and porcelain tiles and accessories.
To achieve this, teams of senior staff visited competitor showrooms in the immediate vicinity, returned and fed back vital elements in the new design. We also had tips and guidance from suppliers as to their future products which would be worthy of inclusion. A comprehensive plan was then crafted and put into action. This was carefully phased to ensure that the maximum trading could be achieved while the conversion was under way.
The plan also allowed for the concept of a 'studio within a studio' to be fulfilled, with Kohler and Jacuzzi each being involved at the design stage.
What type of business has the change attracted and how is this different to before? Since the metamorphosis, there has been a definite increase in retail footflow and business. Our core trade business has seen an increase as a direct result of the increase in retail traffic and has reacted very positively. The comments made by customers support the need for a change in product, as well as some exclusivity which the change has enabled.
Sales have increased from December 2006-December 2007 by 12%. On top of this the unit spend, including tiles and accessories, has improved. There is also a noticeable move towards wetrooms and other aspirational concepts.
BEST BUILDERS' MERCHANT HARD LANDSCAPING DISPLAYRidgeons
Research during 2006 at Ridgeons' Sudbury branch identified that certain landscaping products were performing below expectation. The decision was made to increase the profile of landscaping within the branch with the addition of a new hard landscaping area designed to be friendly to both trade customers and the end-user.
Ridgeons sought support from Bradstone, Marshalls, Stonemarket, Verdigrass and Greenleaf decking to undertake the ambitious display, which stretches 11m by 41m, and makes creative use of texture across stepped areas and a central undulating pathway.
The display showcases products in situ for contractors, who can bring their clients if desired. An innovative and relaxed manned customer centre provides a comprehensive resource where customers can access sophisticated landscape and driveway visualisers, view product demonstrations on a 42-inch plasma screen, take advantage of a free computer-aided planning service or just take a break, all housed within a 50m2 conservatory.
The branch's supplier-trained landscaping specialist also undertakes site visits as required.
The display features over 200 products, with several thousands of pounds worth of goods on show, including aggregates, water features, garden furniture and ornaments, paving, and walling.
Following the opening of the display in March 2007, sales of Bradstone products have gone up six-fold, with collection and sales-figures overall up 16% across all products.
2007 proved the idea a success. The display has attracted many new customers from the surrounding area into the branch and lead to the widening of stock profile to include more aggregates, boulders and natural fencing products.
Over a two-year period since the landscape display opened sales have increased with the following suppliers:
- Marshalls up 41%.
- Bradstone up 19%.
- Stonemarket up 348%.
Despite a tough start in 2008 with poor weather and an even cooler economic climate sales continue to grow at Sudbury.
We are now looking to the future and adding sustainable urban drainage systems to our display and stock profile.
BEST HEATING AND PLUMBING MERCHANTThis is a new category for 2010. Nominations should be from plumbers' merchants who are achieving spectacular success with fresh initiatives in their business.
Plumbers' merchants who are successfully selling and promoting environmentally-friendly products should ensure that they explain how they started on this journey, what their aims and objectives were, and by what means they achieved these objectives. Most important: how did these aims translate into a solid and successful impact on your business' growth?
BEST BUILDERS' MERCHANT WEBSITE
C&W Berry
Our website continues to grow in popularity, with a steady growth in visits and an increase in the product information available. More of our customers are now registered for access to the site providing them with valuable features such as copy invoices, statements and individualised pricing of products.
Every month, almost 10 000 unique visitors use the site. We regularly change the front page to show news, special offers or to promote new products. To increase traffic we make use of the Google Adwords system. Site usage is collected and analysed using Google Analytics.
The heart of the website is the product database. Containing approximately 35 000 products the website allows us to display:
- Detailed product information.
- COSHH sheets.
- Drawings and photographs.
- Data sheets.
- Links to manufacturers' websites.
We can highlight special order items, popular items and items that are only available for local delivery.
Navigation through the site is simple and fast. Users can search for a product, use product category trees to narrow down the range or for decorative items use the galleries to choose particular styles.
The site also contains information that customers regularly ask for:
Directions to our sales yard.
Contact details.
Copies of important documents – our timber purchasing policy, ethical trading policy and our public liability insurance policy.
BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE BY A BUILDERS’ MERCHANTKellaway Building Supplies
We would qualify 'customer service' as not being just one initiative, but many, across our whole company, being embedded in our organisation's culture. To us customer service is about maximising the experience the customer has with us, offering them the best value, the best experience and motivating their opportunity to repeat that experience. We achieve this by creating a difference from our competitors. That difference is in the details. We've always placed the customer at the heart of our operations. To ensure that the focus remains on customer service every team member's job description majors on customer service, particularly in our branch teams, from those in the yard, order picking, delivery drivers, warehouse assistants through to sales team and management.
Over the last year we've commissioned research to further understand what our customers require from us and ensure we're delivering an excellent service, instead of just thinking that we are. The results of this research have helped us drive our strategy further forward.(Example of research enclosed).
Results:
- Customers' orders are fulfilled completely and any errors rectified.
- Repeat business is generated.
- Trends are collated and analysed/acted on.
- New ideas often come from the team members who are completing the phone calls from their discussion with customers.
Accurate invoicing was also important to our customers, and despite the hardening market, we continue to invest in customer facing staff, with the appointment of an assistant customer credit controller who brings with them a background from service-focused organisations.
Results:
- Customer accounts are able to open a dialogue with customers regarding payments and spending limits/payment plans in this tight climate instead of being placed on stop.
- Debtor days decreased by 11.5%.
- Availability to meet customers at corporate hospitality events such as Kellaway Golf Day where face-to-face relationships can be developed.
The customer service administrator is the main point of contact for our own sales representatives and key accounts, and attending the monthly sales representatives' meeting where customer service is an agenda item.
Each branch also has a customer service representative, coupled with customer service as an agenda item at branch meetings, where any issues are discussed. This in turn is an agenda item at our monthly managers' meeting where branch managers all feed back any issues arising from branch level actions taken forward.
Customer service is also discussed at board level, which may pick up on items raised from branch and managers' meetings, or may lead with an item for discussion around the company.
Results:
- Our communication system embeds customer service from bottom up as well as leadership from top down; it encourages dialogue in all directions. This ensures that the customer is placed first and their interests valued highly at all levels in the organisation.
- During the year we introduced electronic invoicing/statements for our customers to receive by email, which makes life easier in providing copy invoices. We ran a prize draw to encourage people to make the switch where we offered £250 account credit each month for four months.
- We work with our suppliers in providing the best opportunities to add value. Towards the end of 2007 we launched a competition to win a van to help celebrate our 25th anniversary. All customers had to do was fill in a simple competition entry form when they spent £200 or more.
Another way we make a difference is in the information we make available to our customers. We use our position as a customer service leader to provide information to customers from our suppliers, stakeholders and contacts in the industry - such as invitations to trade days which cover anything from latest building regulations, new products from suppliers which will save time/money, and also promoting modern methods of construction, making it more accessible including routes to timber framed manufacturing etc again through partnership with suppliers.
Results:
- Our van competition had over 700 entries and created a total sales value of over £235 000.
- Competition entries were another way of us gauging and monitoring the impact of customer service on our business/customer relationships.
- Trade days see sales growth of the company's products who are demonstrating - for example we sold over 40 more power tools in May as a result of Hitachi trade mornings.
In a tough and hardening market, our sales remain up 11.5% during the last 12 months and we put this down to our excellent service and repeat business from our loyal customer base.
Going forward, we will be building on these initiatives, and are looking at formalising and publicising our commitment to our customers. Our service will become driven through the company and we can continue to aim for our mission of being "the merchant of choice".
BEST BUILDERS’ MERCHANT MARKETING INITIATIVEEH Smith (Builders' Merchants)
Since the close of the British motor giant MG Rover in 2005, a huge regeneration programme has been unveiled to breathe new life into Longbridge. On Monday 7 April 2008, exactly three years to the day since the MG Rover closed their doors, EH Smith opened a shiny new branch on the same site in Longbridge. EH Smith was keen to be at the grassroots of this new development and part of the new residential and commercial community that would follow. Many of the new employees, including branch manager, are ex-Rover workers.
To successfully launch a new branch in this sensitive area would require a carefully planned and meticulously targeted campaign, especially in an already declining market.
The key objectives of the campaign were to generate maximum awareness of location and services with local trade, and create an instant trading base of least 100 live trade accounts before opening day.
A combined media/branch campaign was designed in-house to deliver these objectives.
The 'Dirty Old Van' teaser campaign was a branch awareness exercise predominantly targeting small to medium-sized builders in a fun, yet specific way. This multi-faceted campaign featured the following component parts:
Flyers – two direct mailers were sent to a verified trade database in the lead up to the launch (January and March). These outlined the different parts of the 'Dirty Old Van' promotion, enticed new accounts, and gave important information about the new branch location and services.
Competition – suiting the time of year, this endeavoured to find Birmingham's dirtiest builders van, using an SMS viral campaign to appeal to a builder's cheekier side. By entering through text, the winning photo would receive a 32-inch HD digital TV and publicity in the process.
A web microsite was designed and launched predominantly as a gallery for the 'Dirty Old Van' images, but also as a primary source of information about the branch, its services, opening offers, new account applications, data capture, etc.
Van wash – each entry into the competition was eligible for a free van wash during the opening week, dramatically increasing traffic to the branch.
Campaign advertising – the campaign was featured on banners, branch/yard posters, direct mailers, postcards and e-mailers. Only select methods were used to try and target exposure just to the building trade.
Branch 'Cement Mixer Bingo' – onsite promotion during launch week. All customers drew numbered balls from a cement mixer to win prizes, eg power tools, holidays, MP3 players, concert tickets, merchandise, etc. There were 150 prizes in all, with total value over £3K.
New account incentive – every account opened before the launch received a free 18v combi drill.
Media campaign – radio advertising on 'Kerrang Radio', including breakfast show sponsorship and on-air competition 'Cement Mixer Bingo', giving away £1500 of prizes to callers. Advertisements were placed in local press and community journals promoting the new site. In addition, a pre-re and post-launch two-month billboard campaign, fleet of 20 bus-back advertisements ran for six weeks.
Sandwich van – every person through the door during launch week received a free bacon sandwich.
Additional publicity featured special opening offer flyers, bulk bag advertising, inter-branch publicity, site branding and signage, branded giveaways.
Even in a difficult market, the launch of EH Smith Longbridge surpassed every target set.
There were nearly 40% more live accounts opened than forecasted and the various launch promotions produced a real 'buzz' in the locality, bringing in a steady stream of customers with vans to be washed! The various campaigns, matched by the sheer effort and determination from a new team, gave the branch a flying start, with a very bright future – not to mention setting them on target to exceed £1.6m turnover in their first 12 months.
BUILDERS' MERCHANT ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVE AWARDPlumbing Trade Supplies
PTS takes its role affecting its carbon footprint very seriously and recognises the importance of responsible environmental management and its obligation to protect the environment.
As part of the commitment to achieving ISO 14001 accreditation, a new energy and recycling newsletter has been issued to keep staff up to date with key initiatives. This includes recycling cardboard and plastic waste in branches with a target to recycle 1000 tonnes of waste per annum across The BSS Group, and bespoke energy packs to branches containing consumption charts and energy- saving tips.
Not only are its new commercial branches equipped to handle and distribute this emerging range of products, PTS also opened a renewable energy branch opened in September 2008 - an industry first. This branch not only showcases the latest in renewable product technology, but also stocks and sells only renewable products making lead times to the customer considerably shorter.
This new initiative follows on from the massive growth PTS has witnessed in this sector over the past couple of years and the customer desire to get hold of products quickly. In the year to-date, PTS has already experienced sales doubling on solar thermal, with the biggest growth area being heat pumps, with an estimated annualised sales figure in excess of 500 units.
Solar thermal and heat pump technology is continuing to be installed in suitable branch locations, not only protecting the environment but also giving customers the opportunity to see working systems being used. Eco-friendly materials are used wherever possible in new branch developments, including intelligent lighting solutions. Dedicated 'Green Energy Showrooms' in branches continue to open and offer customers product advice on the latest renewable energy products.
PTS is a member of the UK Green Building Council, supporting its construction policies to improve the energy and water consumption of buildings and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50%.
In addition, PTS supports initiatives such as carbon monoxide awareness week and gave all of it's employees a free CO detector this year to make their homes a CO-free zone, and more recently helped promote a CO poster campaigning in schools to highlight the dangers involved.
ACHIEVER OF THE YEARRon Walker – managing director – Heating Plumbing Supplies
Along with three fellow directors Ron Walker founded Heating Plumbing Supplies in October 2001, with three branches.
By 2008, he established a network of 20 branches across the South, with a turnover in the last financial year January to December 2007 of £28.5m. The company also exceeded £2m profit for the first time, giving it a net return of 7.5%.
In the 12 months from August 2007 to July 2008 three further branches were opened.
Mr Walker's philosophy has always been to employ the very best branch staff and managers within the industry, enabling HPS "to offer a real independent alternative to the national merchant groups".
He has always led by example, is never afraid to put in long hours and would never ask someone to do a job he would not do himself, no matter how menial the task.
Mr Walker has been in this industry for over 40 years and has established a reputation based on honesty, integrity and excellent standards.
In June 2006 he took HPS into the CBA buying group and, in early 2008, became chairman of its lightside committee. In addition, he is also on the board of Unimer.
HPS is continuing to further develop its business by combining the professionalism of the national merchant groups along with the service levels and entrepreneurial spirit of the privately-owned small independent merchant.
Mr Walker's ethos is a mixture of good old-fashioned service linked to innovative new ideas, examples are: all our customers can choose to receive text alerts of forthcoming branch events, including breakfast mornings and trade events through their mobile phones.
BUILDERS' MERCHANT MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Sean Furlong – EH Smith (Builders' Merchants)
Sean Furlong joined EH Smith in December 2000 as an assistant manager for the Cannock branch. When the position of branch manager became available at the beginning of 2007, Sean's passion, drive and commitment made him the obvious person for the role.
From the start, he pinpointed areas for improvement at the branch, not only to increase sales and profit, but to also improve productivity, customer care, health and safety and staff morale.
Sean spotted a gap in the local market for civil engineering and was certain that with a specialist in place, significant growth could be achieved. A 45% increase in profit on the previous year's figures was achieved for civils alone, giving a total increase in profit of £120 875.
By developing a specialist in the timber product area, this increased sales by 17%, returning an extra 9% in profit.
He also developed a new centralised branch quotation system. He has also championed sales data analysis to identify products purchased by the customer, as well as opportunities for improved margin and profit.
At EH Smith, customer service is paramount and the changes Sean has made has kept the Cannock branch ahead of the competition. Some of the key changes included:
- A customer complaints system.
- A new customer collection point.
- A one-hour collection service.
- Health and safety improvements through a complete yard restructure and new traffic flow scheme.
- The introduction of a production foreman to eliminate loading errors and speed up loading times.
At the trade counter, Sean introduced more products and signage into the showroom. Large hard landscaping 'A' frames were brought in to more efficiently display products.
Staff training – Sean has encouraged regular and widespread staff training to improve product knowledge and customer service.
He has also been keen to introduce a number of initiatives on a local level to help increase footfall and awareness. Planning leads are now checked weekly, prioritised and passed to the sales team to send introduction letters and make contact. This has dramatically increased the conversion of the local brick projects.
Waste management – the introduction of a waste management system - again initiated by Sean - generated savings of £25K alone,
In the last 18 months, under Sean's guidance, the branch has experienced significant growth in turnover and efficiency. Sales have increased from £9m in 2007 to a record £10.5m in 2008, adding over £200K to EH Smith's bottom line.
"In a difficult market, Sean has been highly successful in managing and leading the Cannock branch to an increase in both profit and turnover. His enthusiasm, along with his passion and commitment, has been the key driving force in the impressive growth of the branch; in turn making a significant contribution to the overall success of the organisation" said John Parker, chief executive officer of EH Smith Holdings.
INDEPENDENT BUILDERS' MERCHANT OF THE YEAR (1-5 BRANCHES)
C&W Berry
We are the most comprehensive single location for the supply of building materials, and associated services, in the country. Our vital statistics:
Turnover: £30m
Customers: 45 000/month.
Deliveries: 5000/month.
Employees: 215
Stock lines: 35 000
Branch area: 24 acres
The following are examples of the different sales departments and processes which all take place on the one site.
We pride ourselves in the breadth and depth of our stocked product range of heavyside building materials.
This is supported by a team of four who are dedicated to direct deliveries.
To differentiate us from our competitors, sand and aggregates are stocked loose in bays then bagged on site into bulk bags, or handy bags on our automated bagging line.
The brick and roof tile library is incorporated into the landscaping display and displays bricks from all the country's brick suppliers.
The extensive display of landscaping products assists customers product selection.
Timber:
- Sawn carcassing – directly imported.
- Sawn redwood – directly imported.
- Hardwoods.
- Mouldings & PSE – machined on site.
- MDF mouldings.
- Chain of Custody registered for FSC and PEFC.
The company's onsite saw and moulding mill produces 250 stock lines and customer specific mouldings. The facility has its own tool room ensuring full control of design, tooling and manufacture.
Timber preservation treatment plants are located on site – a low pressure plant for joinery products and a high pressure plant for timber in ground contact, allowing the company to treat for all hazard classes and specifications.
A huge range of sheet materials are stocked, with direct importation of some plywoods.
A cutting service is available for both contract work and customer collection.
The bespoke joinery department employs 32 staff and the latest in CAD design and CNC machining technology. The department will make 'anything in timber', but particularly specialises in staircases, doors and casing, windows and architectural joinery specials.
The joinery sales department sells:
- In excess of 30 000 doors/year.
- 2500-plus roof windows.
- UPVC and timber windows.
- Worktops.
The ironmongery department is lead and staffed by members of the Guild of Architectural Ironmongers who have gained their qualifications while working for the company. This level of advice compliments a broad range in excess of 14 000 products lines all held in stock.
The tool department employs specialist staff with years of experience who can advise and guide customer according to their needs. This level of advice is what sets us apart from some of our competitors in this field.
The electrical department is staffed by qualified electricians and staff with a background in electrical wholesaling. The products stocked cover both domestic and industrial requirements.
The plumbing and heating department, employing 18 staff, specialises in:
- Heating.
- Plumbing.
- Bathrooms.
- Sanitaryware.
The company has a delivery fleet of 24 vehicles of varying specifications to service all the differing requirements of our customers and products.
With 35 000 stock lines stored across 23 acres, the co-ordination of 5000 deliveries per month requires a focused team.
A 25 000sq ft warehouse is committed purely to the accumulation of orders prior to dispatch to enable speedy loading and turnaround of our vehicles and to keep then away from our sales areas.
INDEPENDENT BUILDERS' MERCHANT OF THE YEAR (6+ BRANCHES)
MKM Building Supplies
2008 looks to be another tremendous year for MKM, seven new branch openings and 2110 new trading customers has helped to grow sales by 17% to a forecasted figure of £135m for the full year.
During difficult market conditions, MKM's ethos of delivering unrivalled customer service, to all customers regardless of spend has been the key to its continued success. The directors and staff of MKM recognise that customers have the freedom to shop where they want and so work hard to ensure they give their customers the products and service they need.
It is the belief of the directors of MKM that, "it's people that make the difference", in delivering the best in terms of customer service, that's why MKM looked to create an innovative approach to rewarding all of its people for good performance. MKM has a unique approach to recruiting new branch managers, which is give the manager an equity stake in the new business. This approach encourages the entrepreneurial branch manager to grow profitable sales as they share in the ongoing success of the newly-formed business.
To encourage all other staff to participate in profit generating activities MKM developed their goal deployment programme. This consists of a set of group goals that are measured at each branch monthly and are presented in graphical form in a prominent position within the branch.
The purpose of the MKM goal deployment is to recognise that each member of staff plays a part in delivering the best in terms of customer service, managing margin, controlling costs, managing slow moving stock and increasing net profit. By charting monthly performance and rewarding people for achievement of the goals, MKM ensure 100% participation of staff at every branch, to deliver the overall aim of the company, which is to grow sales profitable.
Sales from new branches over the period have added £5.5m to the turnover. Once MKM has decided on a new location it works with the supplier base to ensure the correct products for the area are held in stock. Then, the company instigates an extensive marketing campaign to inform all potential customers of the benefits of dealing with MKM. So successful is this combination that most branches move into profit making after just six months.
Every month the company seeks ways of growing its customer base. From gift voucher promotions, breakfast mornings to personalised letters to non-trading customers. No stone is left unturned in the search for more happy customers.
NATIONAL BUILDERS' MERCHANT OF THE YEAR
Plumbing Trade Supplies
With the domestic division of the BSS Group plc producing an annual turnover of £840m and a like-for-like growth of 20% over prior year, Plumbing Trade Supplies has exceeded its growth expectations again last year. PTS continues to grow market share despite the fact that the merchant market is down year on year, with new branches performing ahead of expectations.
PTS continues to employ a simple but effective strategy to ensure its continued growth. To expand its branch network with the ultimate aim of ensuring that no installer has to travel for more than 20 minutes to reach a PTS branch, secondly to ensure it provides an excellent level of customer service to grow its existing business and thirdly to look at key areas of growth within the industry to ensure it remains a market leader.
The network now boasts over 300 branches and over the past 12 months has opened another 30 new branch locations which it consistently does each year. Specialist branches have now been identified to ensure customers' demands are adequately covered. This includes commercial contract and renewable locations as well as heating spares and control branches. The heating spares element of the business is going from strength-to-strength with 80 locations across the country and growing, a dedicated spares price guide for customers and a new spares delivery express service.
PTS has taken a strong market lead on renewable products to react to the growth of the renewables industry. This includes not only sales doubling in solar thermal alone and more Green Energy Rooms for customers, but a standalone renewable energy branch in Aylesford that not only showcases the latest technology, but is purely a renewable stockist. This is an industry first and means customers can learn about the products available in the branch and then have them readily available on site for delivery.
The core installer customer is still key to the PTS business and this year focus has been given in this area, backed up by nationwide customer focus groups. This includes a dedicated installer marketing manager, a new installer magazine, a UK-wide installer competition, a dedicated PTS only installer credit card and pending customer service charter.
With PTS' continued focus on charity work and supporting relatively new initiatives such as the Women in Plumbing and Heating Group and continued focus on customer driven activities, the company will continue to grow its market share well into next year.
SUPPLIER OF THE YEARHunter Plastics
In 2007 and 2008 Hunter maintained the industry-leading standards of service that have become the benchmark for merchant businesses. The company is committed to its ongoing campaign of improvement, involving every member of management and staff in how the business develops and thrives.
Hunter's continued success is based on building mutually beneficial relationships with its customers, listening to their feedback and requirements.
"Hunter is consistently and clearly the leading supplier to Buildbase, and has proved this by finishing first or second in our Supplier of the Year award for the last six years. They touch every part of our business at every level and in every way." (Martin Lee, commercial director, Buildbase)
Key successes:
- Customer service: The company operates a suite of KPIs across the whole business which are monitored daily, and against which employees can achieve a significant financial bonus.
- Investing in Innovation: Hunter continues to bring innovative new quality products to the market. For example, this year has seen the launch of an entirely new rainwater system, Ovation.
- Clear-sighted strategy: Hunter continues to develop its strategic vision, mission and values as it strives to improve its customer offering in the future. Hunter works closely with merchants to develop mutually-agreed customer development plans, aimed at providing them with volume and profit growth, and enhanced service.
- People first: even in tough times, Hunter is investing in training and developing its people and advancing its Corporate Responsibility programme. Hunter is consistently recognised as a "great place to work".
- Environmental focus: Hunter is routinely beating its tough targets for environmental management under ISO 14001 for waste management and efficiency.
- Capital investment: Hunter continues to invest in production processes and techniques, equipment, people and transport resources - all focused on improving the customer service focus of the business.
Hunter continues to empower its people, giving every member of staff responsibility for getting it right for the customer. And, the company's customers will testify that they rarely get it wrong.
"Hunter has proactively helped us grow our business over the last 12 months - through excellent representation, improved and effective POS and marketing support, and, above all, by building excellent communication and relationships with our branches.
"We are up year-on-year on plastics in difficult trading conditions. That's thanks, in no small part, to Hunter's contribution to our business at all levels." (Mark Davies, managing director, LBS)
BUILDERS' MERCHANT LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Kenneth Smith – EH Smith (Builders' Merchants)
It could be said that Ken Smith became a builders' merchant at the age of three, because in 1921, when EH Smith started trading the office was in the sitting room of their home, a terraced house in Acocks Green, so the operation and the family were all closely involved with one another. When the company was formed in 1922 there was a staff of two operating from the same house.
Ken Smith's mother looking after the inside and EH Smith on the road picking up the orders outside and mother still doing the office work and taking the orders on the telephone.
His father's mode of transport was an Indian motorbike and Ken Smith very often went out with him to see customers and visit building sites on the pillion secured with a leather strap. He had a very early association with the merchant industry.
On leaving school in 1936, EH Smith, Ken's father, took him into the business, but only after giving him 'work experience' with customers, a civil engineering contractor, a housebuilder and finally, with a jobbing builder doing conversions.
EH Smith believed his son should have knowledge where and how heavy building materials were used and followed this up by sending him on a HNC course at a local building college, added to which was a course in practical bricklaying.
During the war, Ken worked under the Ministry of Works, dealing with the results of air raids, flying bomb and rocket attacks, overseeing the roofing operation in a number of London boroughs and other parts of the country - this work continued until approximately 1950. While in London, Ken managed EH Smith (London) Builders' Merchants, first of all in Shepherds Bush and later at Wembley, to which location the company moved.
While in London he opened depots at Battersea and Fulham for supplying building materials to the local construction companies. He later moved the operation from Wembley to Bovingdon where it is now part of EH Smith (Builders' Merchants) covering the Home Counties and London area – North of the Thames.
In more recent times, the company has opened depots at Chelmsford and Witham to cover Essex and South East London.
Towards the end of the 1940s, the company was approached by United Merchants to take part in a scheme aimed by the Government to make up a serious shortfall in farm buildings which had arisen due to the war. The company was asked to stock and distribute steel and concrete components, some of which were fabricated from Anderson Shelter parts. This was a considerable merchanting operation as the company had the whole of the East and West Midlands managed by Ken.
When EH Smith died in 1959, Ken took over as chairman of the Group of Companies and is still in the same position today. The sales at that time were £4.4m and profits before tax £53 000. In the last trading year 2007, the sales were £112.8m with a profit before tax of £4.1m.
In the late 1980s Ken became a director of Great Central Merchants, who were one of the pioneers of the buying society movement, based in Wolverhampton. The organisation later amalgamated with NMBS.
In the 70s Ken set up, on behalf of BMF with Grant Thornton, a Credit Information Organisation for the West Midlands which saved many members from bad debts.
Since Ken became chairman the company has increased its outlets to 11 depots covering the West Midlands, East Midlands and the South East. The last depot being opened in March 2008, at Longbridge in the old MG Rover site. Although customers are encouraged to collect, the company does run a large fleet of heavy goods vehicles to carry out prompt deliveries to the Building and Civil Engineering Industries.
The company also has specialist offices in Manchester and London dealing with facing bricks for large schemes including clay cladding materials.
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