www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com 31
THE GLASGOW BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 WINNER SPOTLIGHT
Brian Toward, Wholesale Domestic
Winner of The Glasgow Business Award for Young Business Person of the Year, sponsored by City of Glasgow College
WHOLESALE HAPPINESS WITH DOUBLE-DIGIT GROWTH
I
t has been non-stop for Wholesale Domestic since that glittering evening last October with an increase in staff and sales and the planned opening of a significant new site elsewhere in Scotland. Brian Toward, the company’s Finance & IT Director, was crowned Young Business Person of the Year at The Glasgow Business Awards 2017. In the category, sponsored by City of Glasgow College, Kieran Coyle, founder of Premiership Experience, was also highly commended.
Brian, 32, who qualified as a chartered
accountant with Deloitte, joined this father Derek and uncle, Walter, in the family business in July 2012. “My dad and uncle are still very much
involved on a day-to-day basis. It is the three of us who run the business, which is expanding outside the heartland of the west of Scotland with a new site in the north east of Scotland.”
In January 2017, Wholesale Domestic opened their new warehouse and distribution centre in Hillington to support their nearby showrooms and ecommerce business in Hillington Road. “This has been the catalyst for our
growth. We’re 18 months into that journey and it is going extremely well. The warehouse has been a godsend to the business to help facilitate the growth. Since the Awards in October we’ve enjoyed double-digit growth every month, which has been fantastic for us as a business but also for the people who work with us,” said Brian. A number of long-service staff are taking on advanced positions to help facilitate this growth, with the headcount increasing from 34 just three years ago, to 66, with 80 in the pipeline by the end of 2018.
Wholesale Domestic do not design and install bathroom furniture, but offer savings by selling white-label versions of
many major bathroom brands. “We source factories which make
branded products and then buy white goods from them. We are buying equal quality but without the name stamp on the side of the unit,” he explained. The advent of ecommerce has made
consumers more savvy, he said. “People now realise they can make significant savings – between 30-40 per cent - by buying directly from a retailer, such as ourselves, and then liaising with a professional tradesman who can fit it on their behalf. This saves them a huge amount as opposed to visiting the design and supply market.” Also, the seasonality of renewing bathrooms is changing. Once it was during the sales in January, and October, in the pre-Christmas rush, with poor months in May and June when people were paying balances for their summer holidays. “We’ve just come through May which
was 26 per cent up on the year before and the second best month of the year, so far. Our 12-month year looks much smoother, which helps our cash flow.” He points out changing trends in the UK homes where everything once sat on the floor of the bathroom or on pedestals. “The Scots have been abroad and travelled to Europe and seen that the fixtures are all wall-hung. It’s nice and clean underneath. Europe was 90 per cent wall-hung with only 10 per cent in the UK. Now the UK is moving to 50-50. People are picking up ideas of design and clever use of space from their travels to Europe.”
Main Sponsor
Brian Toward, Finance & IT Director, Wholesale Domestic, was presented with The Glasgow Business Award for Young Business Person of the Year by Roy Gardner, Executive Director, Corporate Development & Innovation, City of Glasgow College
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