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RISING STARS


THE ONES TO FOLLOW: PART 7 OLIVER WEST


MANAGER’S VIEW


After four years of moving from working behind the counter to the warehouse, Oliver joined the management team in 2017. His achievements include upgrading and rebranding the succesful loyalty card scheme. With over 3,000 cash customers regularly using the 21 year old scheme, Oliver identified that the branding and marketing needed refreshing. New applicants rose 20% within the first few weeks of the relaunch. He then did a similar scheme with trade account customers. The results included improved customer loyalty, less customer focus on price and fewer late account payments. Oliver also took over the fledgling UPVC windows and doors department when a more knowledgable colleague left; within year sales, margins and customers had increased and the department is going from strength to strength.


What’s your role?


Branch Director of our newly opened Scarborough branch How did you get into this industry?


I started working in the family business after finishing my A-levels at school. Initially it was just for the summer months but I really enjoyed being in the industry so I stayed on and moved into sales working behind the counter. This meant I was able to pick up product knowledge and start good relationships with customers. This lead onto managing a sales department, which was my first experience working within the management team.


What might a typical day for you at work be? I will check my emails to see if any customer orders have been sent first thing, then I will go through the deliveries for the day with our Warehouse and Transport Manager discussing oading and routes for the day. I like to visually check our warehouse stock most days in conjunction with a minimum stock level report so that I can organise purchase orders to be placed with our supplier partners to ensure stock is replenished in time. Quotations are another major part of my day, making sure we get the prices back to our customers as quickly as possible. At the end of the day I like to spend a couple of hours catching up on paperwork, emails and reviewing sales and margins.


What were you doing at work last week? I was working on customer quotes which is always a good sign that the local economy and trade is buoyant. Along with general day to day responsibilities I had meetings with suppliers regarding stocking new products earlier in the week. During the middle of the week I interviewed a number of candidates for a new role within our warehouse operation. Towards the end of the week I went to visit some of our customers to make sure everything was ok and to see if there was anything else we could do to help.


What are your big challenges in this role? Investing in a new branch means it is vitally important that our sales are at the levels we budgeted for straight away. Ensuring that we maintain the sales and margins we have forecasted is one of the biggest challenges albeit a very exciting one!


What do you love about your role? Each day is completely different and there are always new Rising Stars is sponsored by H+H UK


H+H UK is the largest manufacturer of aircrete building products, including the market-leading range of Celcon Blocks.


24


Our focus is the development of products and systems to provide high performance buildings guaranteed to last several lifetimes.


www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net July 2019


BMJ talks to the Rising Stars of the industry.Those individuals whose managers have pinpointed as regularly going above and beyond.


Job title: Director Company: West Building Supplies


challenges that arise which makes every day an exciting one. We have put together a great team here, seeing everybody work together and having a smile on their face at work is another reason why I love this job and industry. A particular highlight for me was attending our Buying Groups activity day last year, I met many fellow Merchant members and suppliers for the first time and their warm welcome and friendly advice showed what a great industry we are in.


What do you think has been your biggest achievement so far in your role?


Opening our new Scarborough branch and running it is certainly my biggest achievement so far. It has been a new learning curve for us all within the business as this is our first purpose built branch and we project managed the new build ourselves. Thankfully we opened on time!


What would you like to achieve next? My main focus is to make the Scarborough branch a huge success and be as established in Scarborough as we are in Bridlington. I am ambitious to do the same again and open more new branches in new towns or cities.


What advice would you give someone new to this industry?


If you work with a smile on your face, are open minded and flexible, you will reap the rewards. There are so many different roles in the industry, your first might not be the ideal one, but give it the time and effort and then it won’t be long until you find the one that is more suited to you.


What would you say to someone thinking about a career/getting a job in the merchant industry? The industry is going from strength to strength so it is a great time to be starting a career within the building trade. The BMF offer a very comprehensive training programme which gives you a great platform to learn new skills and knowledge required for the merchant industry. There are great opportunities to give yourself an excellent future.


What are the changes you foresee the industry making in order to survive the future?


I see technology and the internet having a big impact on the industry in the future. I believe it is important to move with the times and not be left too far behind. This means as a company we may need to focus on adapting to online purchasing and updating technology as the years go by. BMJ


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