brands in coffee machines, we get audited to a very high standard. We get audited by high-end companies within the market like Nestle, for example. Every year we have audits and even surprise audits occasionally. Nestle do an audit for us in every area which may seem excessive to some people but it has become the new norm for us. As one of the largest companies in the world, Nestle have set the benchmark for how good you need to be. When answering audit questions, you realise how strict the guidelines surrounding equipment testing and health and safety are. Most repair companies do not have to comply with such high standards.
In terms of sustainability, how do you help businesses meet their sustainability goals and requirements?
The first one and biggest one is working with the compliance schemes. Because we use a DPD SWAP-IT service, we’ve got a dedicated tote that comes to your property. Instead of using materials like cardboard or polystyrene which only offer a one-time use, this tote can be reused. DPD are also doing their own part with government schemes and looking at how to implement electric vehicles into the business. The end goal is to ensure that whilst we try to make sure we can fix every product, any appliances we cannot fix goes through a compliance scheme. They’ve got an audit trail that’s been broken down and going back into recyclable consumables instead of just going to landfill. That is the biggest problem as most people throw their appliances away into general waste.
Do you think that the electrical industry is doing enough in terms of sustainability? I think they are trying to but it is very customer orientated. You can do your bit from a manufacturing level, but I don’t think there’s enough incentive for the customer. Currently,
Spring 2024
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There are not many businesses in the UK who do what we do and to the level we do it.
brands. Even though a lot of brands do repairs in-house, personally I think it is still cheaper to outsource it. With the current economic climate, most people cannot afford to throw away their appliances and pay for a new one.
Do you think customers are more likely to opt for the brand that offers this service, as opposed to one that does not? I think customers are more likely to buy a refurbished machine again. For example, if they’ve bought a product previously and like the brand, they may opt for a grade B coffee machine that has small cosmetic damage for £200 cheaper. I think most people are now more concerned about if the appliance works correctly as opposed to if there is a minor scratch.
the problem in the market is that you could buy a coffee machine, use it for 10 days, decide you no longer like it, return the appliance and receive a refund. And then where does that appliance go?
Why are your solutions important to the electrical industry in particular? It’s very crucial to have that repair option for
How do you plan to evolve the business? This year we’re going to push heavily on sustainability. We want to focus on showing people that we have the full sustainable package from start to finish. As I said before, we collect directly from the customer, return it back to the customer and dispose of the waste in an environmentally-friendly way. Another key focus for the year is getting our name out in the market. Over the past 15 years, we’ve been behind closed doors but now we have a brand-new site and a huge potential to expand. We’ve now got enough room for 50 to 75 engineers as standard on site without being over capacity. This is a dedicated site based in Rosendale with Arctic wagon storage, four loading bays and this is the property we’ve been waiting for to allow us to grow.
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