DISTRIBUTION PROFILE PERCUSSION PLUS – MARKET HARBOROUGH
Tony Jackson reveals how the company has coped with the recent education cuts by strengthening its other key brands…
Year Established: 1987. Number of Employees: 40 plus.
How is business compared to last year? Overall our sales turnover is comparable to last year, though this has been achieved in different market sectors. Our Sonix drum range – coupled with new product ranges geared towards the High Street shops – has offset the downturn in education-based sales.
How has the economic climate affected business? We are one of the leading lights, being the largest manufacturer of quality percussion instruments in the UK; manufacturing is suffering from lack of funding, limiting the ability to grow our brand worldwide. Budget cuts in education have affected our
manufactured tuned percussion sales with a reduction in Government-funded initiatives. Local music services are seeing cutbacks.
There are plenty of instruments to learn when purchased under a ‘wider opportunities scheme’, but there is now no budget to supply external teaching facilities.
What are your best-selling products and why do you think they perform so well? Our Perfect Pitch tuned percussion range. These instruments are quoted by education sector specialists as the leading choice for schools, particularly for their superior build quality and “Perfect Pitch” tuning. Our company ethos has always been to
supply on quality not just price. This has been carried forward to our range of Sonix drums, which are manufactured to our own
specifications in the Far East, based on feedback from the retailers.
How does Percussion Plus feel the UK market differs from other global markets? It is perceived in global manufacturing that the UK music industry is driven on price rather than specification; this is why we see so many cheap direct imports, which beginners struggle to learn on.
What distinguishes you from the competition? The fact we are in control of our own manufacturing in England.
How do you maintain a good relationship with retailers? Face to face with good support from customer service. We are also updating our website to coincide with the brand new catalogue we produced in February. We do not sell direct to the end user, believing manufacturing and distribution cannot be combined with direct retail sales.
What would you say is the biggest challenge facing the MI industry today? The current economic downturn in retail sales will affect the amount of retailers who can stay alive and the lack of Government funding will stunt the growth of young musicians.
What are your aims for the next year? To continue to be the leading brand in educational percussion and grow our other brands, especially Sonix, and we would like to see our export sales continue to develop in over 30 global territories.
CONTACT DETAILS: Address: Unit 4, Kirbys Mill, Great Bowden Road, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 7PS Phone: 0845 120 4524 Web:
www.percussionplus.co.uk Email:
sales@percussionplus.co.uk
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