with a Very Professional Reputation


some areas, we offer a same day delivery service. Service is everything for our business and provides us with a competitive edge. When recruiting, we have in the past, used local papers, but our policy is now


to use the THS recruitment service which is free to members. We are able to put forward our requirements and package, and quite simply, THS then finds suitable candidates. I believe our lack of staff turnover shows that we have a strong team who are


happy working at Cooks. Our team is committed to offering a great level of service to local industry. We are aware that without them we would not be able to offer the service levels that we so proud of. We have recently appointed Nick Gurney who has been with us for over 25 years to the Board of Directors, as Personnel Director.


ToolBusiness and Hire: How do you recruit, train and retain staff and how important they are to your business and the customer experience?


James Carrier: At Cook’s, just like many small businesses, we try to train our staff in as many


areas and skills as possible, often by using the services of THS training programs. We understand the importance of the quality that trained staff can bring to a business, and we have a very strong internal sales team, who have been with us between 10 and 27 years. As a result, they all understand the importance of customer needs and the services that customers require. We have 5 external sales representatives who are all fully trained in cutting and


hand tools. Some of these have been with Cooks for 20 plus years, so the experience they have is invaluable. Cooks runs 4 delivery vans, that deliver customer orders next day. In fact, in


ToolBusiness and Hire: Who makes stocking decisions and how important is stock control to your


business?


James Carrier: Stocking decisions are made by the Directors of Cooks. In particular, Adam


Edrich, our Commercial Director, who has been with us for over 25 Years, is constantly adjusting our stock levels so that we turnover our core stock levels 12 times a year. On the balance of the rest approximately, we aim to turn over about 4 times a year. Dead stock really is no longer a great issue as e-bay is a great way of selling it on. When it comes to stock control we use an old version of OGL software but


this has now run its course, and we are looking to update this to a Windows-based version, that will allow us to control the whole company as well as making stock control, ordering etc. much easier.


ToolBusiness and Hire: Do you see reps or seek out offers and products on your own experience?


James Carrier: We have a company policy of not seeing any cold-calling representatives.


However, we are delighted for any representative to make an appointment to see us. You never know:- they might have just reinvented the wheel! – Continued on page 16


telephone 01444 440188


ToolBUSINESS+HIRE 15


Reply No. 205


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