MERCHANT FOCUS: NMBS
JTD Building Supplies’ managing director Tony Sharkey
so we employed the best roofing manager in the area and our roofing sales have gone through the roof in the last six months. We did the same in the timber sector.” Six months after it started trading, JTD moved into a half-acre industrial unit in Meltham, Holmfirth, where it operated from until earlier this year. With the merchant already enjoying turnover of around £3 million, Sharkey was looking to take the business to the next level, and so he enrolled onto a three- month-long Goldman Sachs business course, which saw him developing a new business plan and giving a presentation on his growth plans to more than 100 people at Oxford University. As part of the course, Sharkey identified three key growth opportunities for JTD: to invest in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software that would help speed up and automate the administrative side of the business; to join the h&b buying group; and, finally, to buy some land and move JTD to a larger, purpose-built site.
Since completing the course, Sharkey has invested in the K8 ERP system from Kerridge Commercial Systems and, in October, became a full member of the h&b buying group, after being the first merchant to join h&b’s development group in November 2017. The largest of these investments is, of course, moving the business to a new, larger site, which Sharkey was able to do in July this year, after purchasing the land in 2017 and building a bespoke new home for the merchant.
The 1.9 acre site in Brockholes, Holmfirth, offers 11,000sq ft divided into offices, a trade counter, custom-built warehousing and substantial yard space, giving the merchant lots of extra stocking capacity for its expanding product range.
“We’d outgrown our premises in Meltham,” Sharkey explains. “It had no yard and was located on a steep hill, making deliveries and
collections difficult. I knew I wanted to buy some land and build my own premises. When I was writing my business plan I knew I wanted it within two miles of our previous premises, so I didn’t lose any of my customer base. I wanted a flat, two-acre site with prominent positioning in an affluent area. I didn’t know this land existed then, but that’s exactly what we found.”
“It’s been a very good move for us - footfall is up already in both trade and retail. We’re very much a trade business and our main customer base is small-to-medium-sized builders, but while we didn’t have much retail at our last site, we’re definitely getting more since we moved,” Sharkey adds. As part of the move, Sharkey also made the decision to increase the size of his team by 50%, taking the total number of JTD employees to 15. This was, in part, to help facilitate the larger site and additional stock, but also to ensure the business continues to offer the high levels of customer service that Sharkey says is what truly differentiates JTD from many of its competition.
“I’ve always said a builders’ merchant is really like a corner shop, because you’re all selling the same sorts of material at similar
Our main customer base is small-to-medium-sized builders, but while we didn’t have much retail at our last site, we’re definitely getting more since we moved.
“ ” December 2018
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net
prices, so it’s all about giving better customer service than your competition - it’s the only way you can really stand out as a merchant,” Sharkey says.
“We’ve always kept a really good quality product, and we’ve always been very competitive, managing our stock well so that we don’t ever run out. But what we do better than most is to offer very, very good customer service - we’ve got a fantastic team of very knowledgeable staff. I started out on my own, but people come here to stay. It’s a really happy team and a great atmosphere, and that definitely carries over to our relationships with our customers.”
With his three key growth plans for JTD now all in place, Sharkey isn’t sitting back and resting on his laurels, but instead is already looking to the future, and is investing in a brand new website that will, in time, offer an online sales channel for customers. “Where we are now gives us the scope to grow for a number of years to come - a two- acre site is the perfect size for us to grow. I’m hoping to double our turnover to £6 million in the next couple of years,” Sharkey says. “It’s been a great journey but, and I really mean this, I owe Julie Langford and NMBS a lot. We would not be anywhere near where we are now without their help. It’s made such a difference to our business.” BMJ
23
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
