the BIG interview
‘You can’t expect the market to come to you’
Glen Dimplex Home Appliances managing director Jonathan Casley highlights the importance of staying ahead of the competition and offering value to the consumer
L
ike many in the electrical appliance industry, Glen Dimplex Home Appliances (GDHA)
managing director Jonathan Casley has a great deal of experience to draw on. “I started in 1990 with Creda, which was
part of a joint venture between GEC and GE of America,” he explains. “I had eight years with Creda in sales and marketing roles. I moved from there in 1998, upon the acquisition by Indesit Group of the GDA Group, and joined Belling, a Glen Dimplex company. “I’m quite fortunate really, to have 26 years
working for just two organisations. I joined Belling as business development manager, and, here I am, 18 years on, still with what is now GDHA. Through that 18 year period, it’s gone from a sub-£20m business to a £150m business, and now includes Belling, Britannia, Lec, New World, Stoves and Valor.” Working for the company for such an
extended period has its benefits. “Every business needs some stability,” Jonathan says. “It’s a balance between fresh people and fresh ideas from outside the industry, and at the same time you need continuity and stability. “It also gives you knowledge of the market,
knowledge of the industry, and people. What you tend to find within the domestic appliance industry, and electricals as a market, people that are in the market stay in the market, whether that’s as a supplier or as a retailer. There are a lot of people I knew in 1990 that are still in the industry. You know people and they know you and there’s a common element of trust, and that helps. I think people underestimate the importance of people in business.” Jonathan moved into his current role as
managing director in April 2013, and he has had plenty to get his teeth into since then. “Within six months of me starting that new role, we acquired Britannia, and like any acquisition that’s quite time consuming,” he explains. “When you do any acquisition you want to make sure you look after your trade customers and also the consumer, so you’re very conscious of keeping it ‘business as usual’ as best you can, while in the background trying to integrate it into your business.” He continues: “In July last year we created a separate range cooking division within GDHA,
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www.innovativeelectricalretailing.co.uk
which is headed up by Chris Honer as MD. That, for us, is recognition that the range cooker market is different from the core domestic appliance sectors of the market. There’s a more aspirational product, we have different consumers, we have a different competitor set.” That includes a separate sales and marketing
team for range cooking. “That was an important move for us because that range cooker market is a very specialised sector of the market, and we needed to be as focused on that as some of our competitors are,” Jonathan adds. Focusing on the market makes sense, given the opportunities there. “There’s a volume/value relationship,” Jonathan
notes. “Range cooking is 4-5% of the cooker market by volume, but if you take value, it’s nearer 20% of the market. I think it’s easy in the context of manufacturers to get caught up in the volume discussion all the time, whereas the reality is that this is high value, it’s aspirational, it’s added value, it’s higher margin for the retailer, so don’t forget about it.” That considered approach to the market
extends to the rest of the company. “The marketing teams are focused at a
category level, so on freestanding cookers, freestanding cooling, built-in, and then appliances and accessories,” Jonathan explains. “We have heads of category and product managers that focus on those categories and make sure we’re driving that category forward in terms of new products. “From a sales point of view, we have the
focus by channel, with a head of channel for each. For us, independents always have been and always will be an important part of our business. We have a head of channel that looks after the independent sector, two national account managers, and then six area sales managers who look after and call in on the members.” Jonathan adds: “Our approach allows us
to focus both on the categories and on the customer; both are important.” It’s a busy time for the company, having
just relaunched a range of 50cm freestanding cookers and a major range cooker launch coming up for the Belling brand. “We’re relaunching all our Belling range cookers in
our biggest investment in range cooking since 2005,” Jonathan says. “We’ve put over £1m into the new range for Belling, so that’s a huge focus for us. We’re relaunching about 200 SKUs into the market between July and September this year, so there’s an awful lot of work going on.” The launches are indicative of a wider
trend in the industry, where product is being routinely refreshed and launched at a faster rate. “When you’re multi-brand and multi-category, you’ve got to keep ensuring you’re bringing product to market,” Jonathan says. “We’re now seeing the need to launch product or refresh product becoming more and more important. The days are gone when you could launch a product range and leave it in the market for 10 years, and not worry about new development till year eight. The whole market is a lot more competitive and a lot quicker. New platforms, but also refreshes as well, new designs and aesthetics. That whole area of the market has become more important and more challenging.” He adds: “We’ve got a three year rolling
product development plan, and a continual launch platform. You’ll always be launching something, every month, whether it’s brand specific or category specific, trying to ensure you stay one step ahead of the game. It’s a lot of work. In terms of R&D, innovation and product development, an awful lot goes on behind the scenes.” With so much competition in the market, how does a company create a point of difference?
July/August 2016
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