MERCHANT FOCUS: ALSFORD H
aving joined the builders merchant industry in 2018 as a warehouse supervisor for Wolseley, the plumbing and heating distributor, Michael Boafo, has firsthand experience of the practices merchants have been adopting to help more people to enter the industry. Now branch manager at timber and builders merchant Alsford, Boafo may have lacked the product knowledge of an industry veteran, but it was his transferable skillset for management that gave him the entry point.
He says: “They were looking for a manager with a sales background that could help promote the branch forward, and I was excited to step into a new industry. I did not know anything about the industry at all, but I knew I had the qualities for management.” From Wolseley, Boafo moved to Alsford’s Surbiton branch in 2022 after a brief period at HSS, finally transferring to the Mortlake branch in April 2023.
Alsford Timber & Builder’s Merchant is based in South East England, with 19 branches across Kent, Surrey, London, East Sussex and West Sussex supplying timber, tools and building materials to Trade and DIY customers. With over 140 years heritage in the industry, Alsford has a network of supply from the base of its Mill and Manufacturing centre in Erith, Kent, that supports all Alsford branches from South London to the South Coast.
Management skills
In his day-to-day role as Alsford’s branch manager, Boafo utilises a people first approach. He says: “My belief as a manager is that your people are your best asset. Most builders merchants sell nearly the same products, so the question is why should somebody come and buy from you? My main responsibility is to create the right atmosphere for my staff so they can come in and enjoy what they do. That way, you will get the best out of people. You can have the best products, but without the right people, you don’t have a business. So, my job is coming in the morning and making sure the atmosphere is right, so I get up in the morning, come in here, make sure the branch is set, the lorries are prepared, the journeys, are planned and throughout the day it’s about just making sure that customer experience is the best it can be. “It’s quite a detailed day, so it’s a case planning it through. I have a note page for every day, and as soon as I come in the morning, I list the things that I need to do as I go through the day, I work my way through. Obviously, there are days where you’re not going to finish all of that, so it moves on to the next day. It’s about prioritising.”
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Alsford’s Mortlake branch manager Michael Boafo
A CHANGE OF CAREER
Alsford’s Mortlake branch manager Michael Boafo shares his experiences of having entered the merchant sector within the last decade with Oliver Stanley.
Learning on the job When Boafo joined the company, he was enrolled in the Alsford Timber Academy, the company’s inhouse product training facility, which offers tailored courses covering practical training and technical knowledge. He was also given access to the BMF Campus’ online courses, resources created by the Builders Merchants Federation, designed to keep merchants up to date with the industries latest products and practices.
These resources helped to build Boafo’s product knowledge of the timber merchant, which was in turn bolstered by firsthand learning from visiting the company’s Greater
London branches which proved insightful into how Alsford functions as a wider business. “I spent my first week travelling, seeing how our different branches work, having conversations with the managers, the production team, finance, and the transport teams, all to help me understand the business. It built my understanding, but also my contacts. Now I know who to call on, and I could then compliment that with my knowledge as a manager.”
“I always believe that if you are true to yourself, when people know who you are, you will get the support that you need. When I don’t know something, I don’t know it.
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net December 2025
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