the BIG interview


Symphony Group looks to work with more independent electrical retailers


Over the last 51 years, Symphony has built solid partnerships with its customers, suppliers and retail network. Simon King headed to Yorkshire to meet Robert Williamson, Symphony’s retail national business development manager; and Simon Collyns, the company’s marketing and retail director


S


ymphony was established in Leeds in 1971 by founder Doug Gregory. The


brand came from humble beginnings and has since grown to have nearly one million square feet of manufacturing and distribution space across its three sites. This includes its head office and marketing


suite at Pen Hill, Barnsley, where Symphony relocated in 2008. Symphony recently commenced the next phase of the Pen Hill site, which will add an additional 300,000 square feet of manufacturing capacity by 2023, to service future growth plans. Symphony became an approved supplier


to the Sirius Buying Group in 2017 and the partnership provides the manufacturer with access to Sirius members supplying kitchen appliances, who want to start offering kitchens, bedrooms and bathroom.


16 | www.ierdaily.co.uk


Simon Collyns, Symphony’s marketing and


retail director, said: “We are very proud of our heritage as a British manufacturer; we employ more than 1,800 people across our three manufacturing and distribution sites in Yorkshire. “We also have a substantial network of trusted independent retailers who play a pivotal role in showcasing our offering to prospective customers; we value our relationship with our retail partners and strive to offer them as much help and support as possible.” Central to Symphony’s business is its core


values, which I think it’s fair to say mirror the values of independent electrical retailers. Mr Collyns added: “From conception, Symphony has been guided by a set of core values: delivering excellent customer service, customers first, partnership with suppliers, nurturing staff our staff and a duty of care to the environment – these founding principles are futureproof and remain instilled into the fabric of Symphony today and for years to come.” I’ve been to many manufacturing facilities over


the years, but the Symphony manufacturing site in Pen Hill is massive and the throughput of the factory should not be underestimated. Pen Hill is an 84-acre site and Symphony also


owns a 24-acre site in Rotherham. Robert Williamson, Symphony’s retail national business development manager, said the new manufacturing facility in Pen Hill will enable it to


double its volumes. “We currently manufacture up to 50,000 units


a week depending upon work that week,” Mr Williamson said, “and we’ve got ambitions to grow our turnover significantly. “We built our business on very old-fashioned business morals. We’re very progressive and dynamic, but we’ve built the business on honesty and integrity. The Sirius Buying Group is just like Symphony – it’s got values and Steve and Gordon Jones are absolute gentlemen, very much like our founder, Doug Gregory and Martyn Davies, the executive chairman. “It’s great to have like-minded ideas and values


that integrate together and that’s the key thing for us. “Doug Gregory and Martyn Davis have


motivated and led us and now we’re leading our people to build the business. We’re a national business and we export. We’d like to export more, but we want to concentrate on the UK market – our nearest competitor does one-sixth of our turnover.” Mr Williamson said that independent retailers


partner with Symphony “because they trust us, and we’re straight talking”. Symphony has a collection of brands, including


Gallery, Milano, Freedom and Linear for kitchens, Aquadi for bathrooms and Urbano for bedroom furniture. In 2015, Symphony partnered with Laura Ashley and launched the Laura Ashley


November 2021


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40