DISTRIBUTOR PROFILE | Swift Electrical GIANT
When Chris Honer bought his dream business, Staffordshire-based Swift Electrical, in March 2019, there’s no way he could have predicted what was around the corner. However, global pandemics aside, Honer has an ambitious five-year plan to turn Swift into an even bigger force in KBB distribution. Rebecca Nottingham finds out more
profi le brands during his 34-year career in the KBB industry, Chris Honer should need no introduction. Neither of course should Swift Electrical – the 43-year-old, trusted distribution business that he bought from the Swift family back in March 2019.
H
“I’ve been in the industry since I left school at 17 – having started out as a direct sales rep for Moben,” he explains. “I cut my teeth in retail but it’s distribution where I really found my passion for the industry. What can I say, I’m quirky – I like warehouses and I like racking [laughs].”
Jokes aside, a quick glance at
Honer’s CV and you’ll see that he’s a born-and-bred KBB man with distribution at the heart of it all. His fi rst major role in the distribution sector came in 1989 when he joined Bolton-based Mark Two. But it’s his time at Wolseley-owned BCG that well and truly put his name in the metaphorical KBB distributor hall of fame.
“I joined Wolseley 20
aving held top positions at a number of major distributors
and high-
as sales director in 2005 to assist the group with its acquisitions of Broughton Bathrooms, Crangrove and Galley Matrix,” he says. “We then merged them to create one large distribution business – BCG. “I became the MD [of BCG] when it was turning over £54 million a year. When I left in 2013, the turnover had peaked at £115m. That has to be the biggest achievement in my career to date – by a country mile. “We had the deep pockets of
Wolseley behind us, but they were also very progressive and supportive, which really helped me – and the dynamic team we had – to grow BCG. In the downturn of 2008, where a lot of our competitors pulled away from marketing, we actually did the complete opposite and ramped up our advertising.” So, it’s perhaps no surprise then that two years ago he decided to take the plunge and buy his own distribution business. But what was it about Swift Electrical specifi cally that interested him? “It’s the longest established
We’re a sleeping giant. We can become the UK’s main distributor for branded appliances and sinks and taps in the next fi ve years
branded sink, tap and appliance distribution company in the UK,” he says. “It has a fabulous reputation, fantastic loyal customers and a brilliant brand proposition. It’s simply a great business opportunity for me and my family. “Andrew [Swift – previous owner and son of founder Jim] wanted to retire from the business but, because it’s been going for over 40 years and it’s a Swift-family legacy, he was adamant that he would only sell it to someone who would continue the family-orientation of the business. So, I was the right fi t – he [Andrew] knew me well, we had a mutual respect for one another having been competitors, he knew I understood the industry and, more to the point, the dark art of distri- bution, that I’m passionate for growth and that, ultimately, I would look after the business – and the Swift name. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
Alongside the loyal and experienced team of employees that Honer inherited – which includes a number of staff members who have been with the business for more than 16 years – in keeping with the family-business theme, Honer has brought in wife Sharon – whom he met in 1994 at Mark Two Distribution, where she was the
Waking a sleeping
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