MERCHANT FOCUS: ALLOWAY TIMBER
TAKING A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO MERCHANTING
Fiona Russell Horne visits a timber merchant and a builders merchant taking a wider view of customer service.
A
merchant customer’s main concern is usually perceived as price. This is wrong. It’s about getting the right materials on time and in full, backed up by the right expertise to get the job done well. Customers want consistency but they’re not particularly concerned with how that is delivered. As merchants, that’s our concern and perhaps our opportunity. That’s according to Finbarr Doyle, managing director of timber merchant Alloway Timber and its sister builders merchant Putney Builders Merchants. Understanding that, he says, is key to how the two businesses plan to develop over the next few years.
Putting People First
The original company – Alloway Timber – will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2021 and now operates from six branches, having set up in Fulham, South West London in 1971. Putney Builders Merchants is its younger sibling at just 14 years old. For most of those 14 years, PBM and Alloway Timber have essentially operated as two separate businesses even though, as Doyle points out, they share both customers and opportunities. Separate operations they may have had but the outlook has always been the same. “We’ve always put people first,” says Doyle, who joined the company a year ago with
28
a brief to get both Alloway and PBM to be punching above their weight against their peers in three years’ time.
“Unlike most in the sector, when recession hit in 2008 we didn’t lay off a single person. Built on family values, the business decided that people were its single biggest asset and held true to those values. That sent a really big message out not just to colleagues but also to customers and suppliers.”
“
The business decided that people were its single biggest asset and held true to those values
”
During the lean years, Doyle says the company retained profitability and sales, but, as is often the case, the challenge came when the market lifted. “We operated a relatively simple business: we bought materials, added value and then sold this on to customers. I think for some merchants, it’s quite easy to think that trading will continue to be that simple. However the market, the buying decisions and the expectations of end users are transforming the market.”
“Merchanting has changed considerably in the past few years, driven by online trading, product innovation, increased customer expectations and how and who makes the ultimate buying decisions. Customers are now far more demanding: they are of course price focused, but they are also highly service driven. Merchants need to balance and accommodate these two opposing factors if they are to create value and thrive. I think this is one of the key challenges for the merchant sector: how to innovate our products and service offering whilst creating meaningful value for customers.”
All about Attitude
Doyle says, when he arrived at Alloway and PBM, he was surprised by a few things. “I expected to find attitudes here to be similar to most other merchants. They’re not. I believe that people in Alloway Timber and PBM Builders Merchants are much better than those I’ve come across in other merchants. We have a highly experienced team who remain absolutely passionate about the business. They want to make a difference and they really care. It’s quite unique. Another was our approach to customers; we never let our customers down. I have talked about what good customer service looks like with many merchants over the years and I’m not
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net August 2019
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 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
