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EDA Report The cornerstone


In the second half of Electrical Wholesaler’s interview with Chris Gibson (pictured), President of the EDA, Editor Hannah Hart discovered the organisations critical role throughout the supply chain and in developing the sector.


What are the EDA’s main goals when working with a trade association? There are four main parts to this jigsaw. It starts with the manufacturer producing the products, and traditionally they would sell to the distributors. We, as distributors and wholesalers, hold the stock, and then it’s all about proximity to the customer who will likely be an electrical contractor – anyone from a one man band, SME business, or a national contractor. The ECA has memberships right from the small players up to the larger national ones. We also have customers that could be end users – such as an industrial unit requiring lamps or products for their machines. An end user could be somebody like a hospital, who would buy products to actually install themselves, universities and hospitals have their own maintenance team. So, the four pieces really are: manufacture, distributor, the person that buys


from the distributor and then the end solution that product ends up being. But between those pieces there’s a lot of synergy. It goes back to having confidence in the quality of the product, and I think it’s understanding everyone’s need in that chain. Two years ago, we commissioned a survey of our membership and also of the manufacturers and affiliate members, to really understand what was required in the market or what the changing needs were. Out of that digital neutral space, the comments from manufacturers and wholesale members were very positive. I think although we’ve had conversations in the past, in the two years of my tenure I certainly want to develop those into more than just symbolic relationships, but relationships that can make a real difference. We’ve already taken the first step. We’ve got a session in July with BEEMA, for example, and that meeting has a specific agenda of how we can really make a difference together.


Is there much resistance to the idea? No, not at all. There’s a natural fear sometimes of being seen to talk together, and we all have to remain independent as trade bodies, but a commercial discussion would never take place during a generic conversation for the good of the industry.


What are your top goals when working with associations? Supporting affiliates that have products of a correct quality has got to be the number one objective, as well as making sure our membership is aware of who they should be talking to. At the EDA, we’re a trade body; independent companies will make their own commercial decisions. If we can share common information to raise people’s awareness, that’s absolutely critical for us. By working with the trade bodies we can do just that.


The EDA has been referred to as the cornerstone in the supply chain – could you speak a little more to this? We certainly see ourselves as a pivotal part of that supply chain. One of the main reasons is that for any customer, price is always going to be important, but service, stock availability and a trusted relationship will come out on top every time. The proximity of products is also critical. The closer the product can be to


the customer, the better. At the end of the day, they’re also serving their client’s needs! Even if the end user is a university, they’re serving their


16 | electrical wholesalerAugust 2019


students and need to keep that building in a fit state to actually learn in. Having the right products, the electrical contractor is working on behalf of an end client, and so the ability for them to service their own client depends on the service we can give to them.


So your influence can be felt anywhere along the supply chain, then? Absolutely. Yes, we move boxes of product, of course we do, but we also add a lot more value than that. That should be just the norm in how we deliver them to the workplace. If we can help mitigate that labour cost, that’s where some real benefits come in to the customer.


You’ve previously mentioned that it’s important to encourage young blood to get into the industry – which have been the most effective methods of achieving this?


What each member does within their own business and how they train people is obviously their own responsibility, but I think one of the real strengths – a strength that we continue to develop at as quick of a pace as possible – is to give our membership the tools and the ability to train staff and bring young people through. The quality of our product modules is absolutely first class, so much so that


we’ve even got other organisations outside the electrical industry talking to us to see if they could take best practice in order to share and dual brand it. Having quality material and collateral that our membership can tap into


really develops the young people. It’s great getting a young person into the business, but then allowing them to develop at a pace they can maintain is no less important. We all have examples of when a young person joined the business – even though nobody wakes up wanting to be an electrical wholesaler! Either a family member works there or you fall into it, basically. But when you join as a young electrical wholesaler, there’s no stopping the pace of your progress. There’s a lot of senior people in the industry that joined at a very young age


and have made a very successful career for themselves. And I think it’s also the responsibility of those senior people in the industry to make sure that we develop that young blood, and the EDA certainly gives them the materials to do that.


So the modules provide them with a well-rounded foundation? It gives them confidence in the products. There’s nothing more daunting than being stood on the trade counter as a new entrant into the industry and facing an electrician who’s been doing it for 30 years. The more product knowledge we can give, the better. And it’s not necessarily just for younger people – people joining us at any stage can benefit. I think the National Apprenticeships are also critically valuable.


The 11 ambassadors that we have within the EDA from different members


pay a vital role in taking the tools, information and collateral available back into their businesses. And I can’t stress enough just how important those roles are. Those guys come together on a regular basis, once a quarter, and are really pivotal in driving forward what the EDA needs to create to support them. They’re the ones who take it back into their business, back into their


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