DISTRIBUTION PROFILE SOURCE DISTRIBUTION –


LONDON – HOWARD JONES


Howard Jones points out Source Distribution’s knack of bringing struggling brands up to the correct standard and his satisfaction with the UK market at the moment…


Year Established: 2006


Number of Employees: We have eight dedicated to Source, plus we share back office and warehousing staff with our parent company HHB.


Is business up or down compared to last year? Up, I’m glad to say. We’re in the fortunate position of having been able to grow our business each year since launching the company.


How has the economic climate affected business? Generally we’ve just had to work a lot harder – clever marketing, tighter control of inventory and more careful credit control. With everyone looking to reduce stock levels, we’ve had to be even smarter in helping dealers move product out the other end of the pipe – so we’ve focussed really hard on how we market to the end user.


What are your best-selling lines? Røde microphones and Genelec monitors are definitely our two headline acts. Røde offers such value for money that even in a downturn it’s still a really compelling brand, while Genelec is an absolute industry standard. But the one thing they both have in common is their appeal to both the music and broadcast markets, which opens up so many more opportunities.


How does the UK market differ from other global markets? Let’s be honest, we’re blessed really – we’ve got a great music and recording scene, quality press and a pretty stable economy. When you see what’s going on in some other parts of Europe I think we’ve got to count ourselves lucky.


What distinguishes you from the competition?


If I had to single out one quality I’d say it was the power of our marketing machine. We’ve got a track record of taking relatively under-performing brands and kicking them on to the next level, but that can only happen when you invest resources and creativity in getting your marketing message across. One print ad or review alone is not going to change anyone’s fortunes!


What is the biggest challenge facing the MI industry today? I think all of us – manufacturers, distributors and dealers – have to increase our efficiency, up our professionalism and be prepared for a right old scrap for market share.


What are your aims for the next 12 months? Probably number one on the list is establishing the Jet City guitar amp brand, which is Mike Soldano’s new venture. It’s a new brand in a new market for us – so it’s a really exciting challenge.


CONTACT DETAILS: Address: Address: Unit 6, Pembroke Buildings, Cumberland Park Business Estate, London, NW10 6RE Phone: 020 8968 3218 Web: www.sourcedistribution.co.uk Email: sales@sourcedistribution.co.uk


10 miPRO JANUARY 2011 SIGN UP FOR THE MI PRONEWSFLASH SERVICE AT WWW.MI-PRO.CO.UK


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92