Clearwater | SUPPLIER PROFILE
Daniel Bolton (left) with Andew Hall (right)
creativity to make the products the best they can be. Hall started driving the company’s vans as a stop-gap job when he was younger. One day he was asked to speak to a client on one of his deliveries, and then he was asked to wear a suit and go out and speak to more clients as a salesperson. He continued to progress until he became the general manager. Every job opportunity that Hall had, he sunk his teeth into, as he believes that the best way of learning is by doing.
Timeline
The pair reflect on how they have seen the company grow over the years, how the team started with only a couple of employees plus the founders and has grown to 30 – with the majority having had at least a decade of service.
There is a sense of building individuals up and giving
them a
chance – both Hall and Bolton started at entry-level jobs and now hold senior positions. It is part of the joy of working in a small team as there isn’t a sense of stuffiness in the company – everything is open.
April 2023 •
Let’s go over a timeline of events. In 1995, Sterling Distribution was founded – it specialised in distributing sinks and taps brands. The company’s distribution arm is still going strong and distributes top brands like Gessi, Abode, InSinkErator and Grohe, to name a few.
In 2000, the Clearwater and Thomas Denby brands were founded. It was an opportunity for Sterling Distribution to sell its own products. The two were always in the same brochures as the companies Sterling distributed, but in 2018, Clearwater got its own brochure. Clearwater and Thomas Denby have distinctive looks. The latter
is more trad-
itional with ceramic butler-style sinks, while Clearwater is more modern. Clear- water is the main focus out of the two for Sterling.
“Clearwater is our
main area of growth,” says Hall. “Our
If you create
something that goes into a showroom and there is a product that you can touch and feel, move and play around with the different functions, then it is more engaging for people Andrew Hall
distribution side has grown but the development of the Clearwater brand has been vital. It is now an entity that stands on its own two feet and is a huge focus of what we do.” In the early days of Clearwater, there was little focus on innovation. Before, the brand sought out good quality manufacturers that they knew would create a good product. However, they knew they needed to be more creative. “Until 2018, that’s how we did it,” explains Bolton. “It was all about the natural growth of the Clearwater brand and pushing on with the distribution side. As we went on, we learnt more about how sinks and taps were made and wanted to be more creative. Back then, we were in a bit of a dead-end, where we would only launch new products once or twice a year.
“So, the natural course was to focus on Clear- water and be in
charge of our own destiny.” Eventually, the time came for them
to start honing the designs and making them a considerable part of the business. “We started to focus on design and develop our own brand of stainless-steel sinks,” says Bolton. “We wanted to create some wow products, not necessarily thinking how many we can sell but how can we create a hero product and create some interest in the brand.” Hall interjects: “You have to have a product that people want to talk about. It is part of the marketing exercise that you need to have something that is unique to you. If you create something that goes into a showroom and there is a product that you can touch and feel, move and play around with the different functions, then it is more engaging for people.”
A tactile product for the retailer is a key area. Clearwater wants the sinks and taps to be displayed to make customers want to touch the finishes, try the pull-out hose or play around with the different configurations. As much as this was done to put Clearwater on the map, it does help retailers, as Bolton explains: “We
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