Consolidated Industria A Dialogue with Joanna Prescott – Commercial Manager
ToolBusiness: Can you give us a brief historical introduction of the business and where you are now, including any recent changes that may have a bearing on how you operate now?
Joanna Prescott: Consolidated Industrial Supplies is a subsidiary of Consolidated Tools International which was founded by my father Paul Prescott in 1984 with offices overseas and subsidiary companies in Spain and Venezuela. Consolidated Industrial Supplies Limited then opened in 1988. We found our service was in such demand by 1991 that we expanded into our purpose-built premises on Brackla Industrial Estate in Bridgend. Our time in Brackla Industrial Estate has seen CIS continue to grow, acquiring Newport Engineering Supplies in 1998.
In 2000 we made the decision to join the national buying consortium THS Tools Group, making it easier to offer our customers the widest range of products,
Joanna Prescott
quickly and at reasonable prices. In 2001 we also acquired Anglo American Adhesives and by 2006 CIS had achieved its ISO 9001 Accreditation. That same year my father decided to take a step back from the running of the company and appointed me as the Commercial Manager for Consolidated Industrial Supplies.
ToolBusiness: How do you recruit, train and retain staff and how important they are to your business and the customer experience?
Gareth Williams
Joanna Prescott: At CIS we believe it is extremely important for our patrons have the best customer experience possible. It is imperative to us that the customer can form a relationship with one of our staff, so that they can talk to the same representative from the date they place and order, to the date they receive their order.
Our representatives are regularly enrolled on training courses to ensure the best customer care is always provided. Our staff and their training are very important to CIS as they enable the company to deliver on its guarantee of total commitment and rapid solutions for any organization that places their trust and their business in our hands.
We recruit staff from a family-run, Welsh recruitment service called St David Recruitment, based in Cardiff. CIS also works with the training and recruitment scheme ACT (Associated Community Training), which has training facilities in Bridgend and the South Wales Area.
ToolBusiness: What is your measure of the customer experience in your business? How do you read your main customer base - is it mainly trades people or are there a mix of DIYers, householders etc who need to rely on your help and advice?
Left to right: Lily Powell, Sue Lewis
Joanna Prescott: The biggest testimony we can receive from our customers is when they continue to place orders with us. We still supply to customers who have used our service for over 15 years. Their loyalty is proof enough of a good customer experience. At CIS we adapt ourselves to fit the needs of our customers.
What sets us apart from other similar competitors is our ability to evolve with a company as they grow or as their needs change. Our biggest customer base is with local businesses. Being a member of the THS Group enables us, to not only give them the best possible price on the things they need but, to do the same for other customers such as trades people and DIYers. Through the use of trade counters, CIS has found trades people and DIYers to be a great source of sales.
We are currently reinventing the way we supply to both contracted customers and trades people by introducing our website
consolidatedindustrial.com, where customers will soon be able to purchase the items they need quickly and easily online. They will have the peace of mind that they will get the same impeccable service that they have always received from us in the past.
14 ToolBUSINESS+HIRE
www.toolbusiness.co.uk
Reply No. 213
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