MERCHANT FOCUS: KENT BLAXILL
OLD MERCHANTS, NEW TRICKS
Unless a business can evolve it won’t survive. Elizabeth Jordan finds out how one of the oldest builders merchants in the country is continuing to thrive.
Kent Blaxill has been a part of the Colchester landscape for almost two centuries. They dominated Colchester high-street in the days of black-and-white photographs, with multiple shop fronts selling stock from glazing to toys, until the 1960s when they moved to a huge warehouse on the outskirts of town. And they’re still there today.
“Our earlier sites were very local, keeping 20
within a few-mile radius. Since then we’ve focused on spreading across the UK and this year we will be opening two new branches, bringing our total up to 16 across the country,” says managing director Simon Blaxill. Blaxill is a fourth generation Kent Blaxill leader and says he can remember living above one of the shop fronts in the high-street as a child.
He explains that the company didn’t really
become a ‘proper’ builders’ merchant until sometime in the 90s but now there are 2 core parts of the business: decorating and building materials.
“Decorating is definitely the more major part of the business. Since expanding, each branch is around 3000sq feet, which is relatively small really, but with clean lines inside for a simple but beautiful layout that supports what we call ‘our image’. We make all our shelving so that we are in control of the atmosphere in each of our branches. We like to be a one-stop shop for decorators. We stock mostly trade paints but designer paints are available, and each branch has generally three staff with various skills and knowledge, so tradesmen have someone they can speak to” he says. The designer paint areas are more extravagant allowing walk-in customers a comfortable area where they can be inspired and enjoy a cup of coffee.
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net June 2019
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