COVERSTORY
Agents help premium trolley manufacturer push on to the next level
Stewart Golf has taken the next step in its evolution into a major player in the trolley market by recruiting a team of agents with the aim of giving it national representation.
exclusively direct to the public, the company slowly began developing trade and retail relationships but moved up a gear when it moved into the push trolley market in 2010. Having launched the Z1 and then the
H
Z3 models, both sourced from a partner in China, the decision to design and manufacture its own trolley in Britain needed an investment in people as well as production tooling, and UK Sales Manager Robert Hardie came on-board. With the launch of the R1 Push last
year, the need – and demand – for a larger number of stockists became obvious and the decision was taken to recruit agents to take the Stewart brand to even more areas of the country. First to join the team was Scotland-
aving started out more than a decade ago selling its handbuilt powered trolleys almost
based Douglas Pollock and David Westwood in the West Midlands. Douglas is known as “Mr Trolleys” north of the border aſter a long career both as a representative for Powakaddy and latterly as an independent agent. David also has a proven track record as an agent and added Stewart to a portfolio that already included Galvin Green. Dave Rigby (South West), Simon
Everitt (East) and Richard Tinworth (South East) have also joined the team. All three also represent Galvin Green, with obvious synergies between the two brands based on a desire only to work with selected stockists and a premium RRP and margin approach to professional and sustainable retailing. Chris Sands, another independent
agent with a successful playing career in his locker too, is based on The Wirral and covers the North West as the most recent addition to the team. Only the North East remains as an area without representation, but the company is hopeful of completing its national coverage very soon. Robert Hardie said: “Everything about
a company that is in the premium end of the market has to be premium and when we decided to make the next step for us and recruit agents, we knew they would have to be premium too. “We wanted to benefit from working
with agents who had relationships with retailers built up over many years and based on mutual trust and respect, and we are already seeing the benefits to doing that very early in the project. “We have also benefitted massively
A Prototype R1 Push 22 SGBGOLF
from the insight that working with our agents has given us, detailing the best way to work with new retail partners, enabling us to develop flexible but
UK Sales Manager Robert Hardie
attractive packages that enable retailers of different sizes and strengths to buy into the Stewart brand.
“We’re also learning very quickly what works for retailers in terms of support and how we can best work with them to help both our businesses grow.” If you would like to contact Robert then email him at
robert@stewartgolf.com.
R1 Push means retailers and their customers can buy the best and buy British too
Stewart Golf has helped to start the quiet revolution in British manufacturing and has turned a 3,000sq ſt warehouse that used to be filled with trolleys imported from China into a factory that is producing handbuilt push trolleys and shipping them across Britain – and even exporting too! The company broke new ground when it released its new R1 Push trolley in 2014, becoming the only manufacturer to build its push trolleys by hand in Great Britain.
D
o you think the British manufacturing industry is dead? Then you need to think again, at least when it comes to golf trolleys.
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