P30-31 Company Profile:Layout 1 18/03/2021 17:15 Page 31 WholesalerProfile
The company’s seemingly inexorable expansion appeared to have
slowed during the coronavirus pandemic, but this had been planned anyway. Managing director Nik Mulcahy says: “With so many start up branches still to return a profit, we had already decided that we’d rein it in for a bit and consolidate – just for a while.” April and May 2020, the first months of lockdown, were difficult for
everyone. The company’s key management team instituted daily meetings covering financial and safety issues, while working with its suppliers to trade through this period of uncertainty– “everyone was absolutely fantastic” – and by July, he says, business was back to pre-Covid levels. More than 250 of the company’s 400 staff had been furloughed in April,
but by October the majority had returned. The announcement of a third lockdown in January 2021 has “taken the edge off business” says Geoff, and unfortunately a few staff have returned to furlough or part-time furlough. Despite the woes of 2020 and the pandemic, Geoff says Kew is “probably in the strongest financial shape we have ever been in”. “These things make you look at every element of your business. We’ve saved an absolute fortune this past year just by looking at everything very closely.” Kew has been able to weather the Covid storm in part because of its continuing small company ethos, which gives it an agility that others cannot match. “It is a differentiator,” says Nik, “Geoff and I can make quick decisions within the business – and it happens. We might be a £100 million business, but we still have control of the whole thing.” There is still a ‘Kerly family firm ethos’ to Kew, he adds, “which obviously is harder to keep going as we approach £100 million turnover and 400 staff – that’s a big family to be a part of.”
Staff retention and development has been a hallmark of the company since the start, says Geoff. “Lots of them have joined us as 16 or 18-year-olds and 5, 10 or 15 years later, they’re still there. I’m sure it’s that family ethos that they enjoy being a part of.” Nor has the pandemic been able to disrupt Kew Electrical’s award- winning streak. The company’s bulging trophy cabinet now holds two more Electrical Wholesaler Awards – Branch of the Year for Dover and, for the first time, Best Wholesaler with 26 or more branches. Kew has also just become one of 1,000 companies to Inspire Britain, as judged by the London Stock Exchange Group, which identifies the most dynamic small and medium- sized enterprises in the UK and Europe. Today, this dynamic company is looking forward to future opportunities.
Looking to the future, succession planning has begun at the company. Current senior Kew staff are being groomed to replace members of the original, first-generation board. But for now, Geoff simply says: “It has been a wonderful journey, not just for me but for so many other people who have come along with me. It has definitely been life-changing for so many people.”
Geoff Kerly with company awards/trophies
Geoff Kerly – Arctic Trek for EIC
ewnews.co.uk
April 2021 electrical wholesaler | 31
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