Industry Comment Better together


By Richard Shaw, Managing Director of GreenBrook Electrical


I


t’s when times get tough that you find out who your friends are. And times have never been much tougher for the


electrical industry than the past year as all the way down the supply chain contracts have been harder to come by, margins have been squeezed and prices have been undercut. It’s dog eat dog out there and the only solution is to adopt an every-man- for-himself strategy, right? Wrong! In fact, now is exactly the time that suppliers, wholesalers and contractors should be working together to ensure that the electrical industry has a viable long-term future, instead of sacrificing quality, reliability and customer trust for the sake of short-term profit. Certainly it’s tempting during a recession to drive down costs in whatever way we can and compete entirely on price – but at what cost? Many of us have worked long and hard to provide a sustainable value proposition based on a progressive approach to combining realistic pricing with reliable quality and service; if that is undermined by companies that champion value prices but are actually selling cheap products where does that leave the future of our industry?


It would seem that one of the ways in which many of the ‘build it cheap, sell it cheap’ brigade are cutting costs is by just not bothering with membership to some of the industry bodies that have been championing the sector’s reputation for the past 100 years. Membership of EDA,


ECA and BEAMA not only provides a recognised endorsement that your company is a bone fide, reputable supplier of electrical products, it also represents a commitment to and investment in the future stability of our industry. While those of us who continue to contribute to these associations benefit from their advocacy and insights, those who chose not to also benefit from that investment: a situation that is simply unfair. What is worse, however, is that a migration of electrical industry companies away from EDA, ECA and BEAMA membership undermines their importance and by doing so undermines the whole industry, a state of affairs that we may all come to regret in the future. Words like ‘loyalty’, ‘integrity’ and


‘teamwork’ might seem like anachronisms in the present business climate but, I would argue, they are more relevant in today’s difficult trading conditions than they have ever been. And it’s not just about economics, it’s also about the immense issues like climate change and achieving stringent carbon emissions targets that we need to face together. BEAMA has worked hard to lobby government to show more support for the existing energy saving products produced by member companies, but other industry bodies (ECA, EDA, Select, etc), manufacturers and wholesalers need to come together as one voice in order to represent the


whole of our industry.


This is not a time to dumb down on quality and innovation to maintain profits at any cost; it is a time to raise our game. A time to change the way electrical industry companies and organisations work both as individuals and as a united industry. There are challenges to be met both economically and politically and only by being prepared to compete on quality, service and value and invest in the future of the industry can we hope to meet those challenges.


Last week at the ECA industry


conference the theme was “Excellence above all”, in my view this can only be achieved by working together and supporting each other through good times and bad, true teamwork in action. The big problem we all face is the fact that for all the good companies that do their utmost to support and sustain our industry going forward through the various associations, there are many more who just sit on the sidelines and milk the system, contributing nothing along the way!


Which brings me back to my theme of solidarity. Working together as one industry committed to joint aims and common principles will help us survive the recession, make the most of the eventual upturn and develop a strong legacy to pass onto future generations


www.greenbrook.co.uk


www.ewnews.co.uk


July 2010 Electrical Wholesaler 5


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