MERCHANT FOCUS: LAWSONS
BUILDERS MERCHANT THEHOLISTIC
Fiona Russell Horne meets a merchant that is firmly committed to its family ethos T
here are family-run merchants. There are merchants that look on their whole business with a family ethos. And then there’s Lawsons whose outlook puts it
in a league of its own.
Family-owned and family-run, the Hertfordshire-based merchant believes in a holistic approach - looking after the employees, customers and the community in order to build a sustainable future.
Managing director Paul Sexton says this isn’t just lip service or buzz words. The company really believes that to get the best out of the business you need to continually reinvest in the company, none more important than the employees and the community. “The ethos behind Lawsons is that we want to create growth, real sustainable growth, so that it creates opportunities for the people we employ and the communities we operate in. That philosophy of family values comes from the owner John Lawson and his son Simon Lawson, company chairman, and across all roles throughout Lawsons.”
The company’s 17 branches trade within London and the South East of England, 14 operate as a mixed merchant, there are two Crowthorne branches which specialise in timber and fencing, and finally Sharvatts is a more specialist merchant dealing mainly with bulk orders to housebuilders, local authorities and second line merchants.
Lawson’s business is predominately the repair, maintenance and improvement market, Lawsons also specialise in supplying the loft conversion sector. Sexton says. “We tend not to deal with the national housebuilders, we prefer to focus on the smaller contractors who offer less credit risk and stronger margins. We want to sell the right product for the right price, delivered to the right place at the right time and trade on our professional service not just competitive pricing.
He adds that the company realises that a business is only as good as the people in it. “That’s why we will always put people before pound notes; as such we have a big emphasis
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on training and personal development. We are very, very strong on training and we run extensive programmes across the business. Our training offered is widely recognised as one of the best available in the merchant sector” Three years ago, Sexton says, Lawsons committed to a half a million pound investment per year into training across the business for 400+ staff. “Each branch has a budget every year for staff training which equates to £1000 per person minimum per year, across all job roles. We support people above and beyond what we offer through inhouse training, we also encourage staff to further their education towards qualifications at a degree level. Our training programme has been further enhanced with the addition of a successful post graduate training programme, apprenticeship scheme and Going for Gold.”
Commercial director Jeremy Norris adds: “When you get the right people in the right place, trained properly, it really pays off. We’ve always realised it is a return on investment for the business. They operate at a better level; every branch is a cost centre and has a comprehensive budget and they work it out with the Exec Team so that they see an investment over the next 12 months. We do push the budget, but in doing so we ensure the correct resources are available for the branch.” Lawsons always aims to have a healthy work
life balance and as a company really believes that you get out of life and business what you put into it, Norris says. “We know there are profitable merchants out there who operate on a scorched earth method of management, where everything is poured into dividends for directors. That’s absolutely the complete opposite of what Lawsons believe. Here, it’s all about furthering the business for everybody for the future.” The company believes in looking after its staff, they have a salary protection scheme for up to five years. “If, for whatever reason, someone is unable to work through illness, they will get help with rehabilitation and getting back to work, as well as the security of an income.
It’s an insurance-backed scheme across all job roles. It’s the ability to bring a person back from being unable to work to returning as a part of the workforce again. It also gives them the opportunity to get their lives back on track. Because it’s a structured insurance backed scheme with procedures in place for rehabilitation, reports and medical check-ups, it’s very transparent, Sexton says. “We find it helps people to return to work quicker and reduce the problems of long term absences.” Plus, as Norris points out the scheme comes as a fixed cost to the business. “We know how much it is going to cost us every year, so we can build that cost into our budgets, plus, we
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