Brand of the Year
BMJ
BUILDERS MERCHANTS JOURNAL
TIMco: NBG Brand of the year
TIMco has been named as NBG’s 2017 Brand of the Year. How did they achieve it? Sales director Simon Rance talks with NBG Partner Palladium to find out.
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ased in Cheshire, TI Midwood & Co (TIMco) is one of the UK’s largest importers and wholesalers of screws, fixings, fasteners, nails and power tool accessories. The company, founded in 1972 by Simon Midwood’s father, remains family owned and has sold over two billion items over its history. TIMco now operates from an
impressive 100,000 square foot warehousing and distribution centre near Nantwich with a stock of over 6000 product lines. TIMco became an NBG supplier in 2009 and have worked in partnership with its members to become one of the group’s most active Suppliers, culminating in this year’s prestigious Brand of the Year Award.
alladium Building Supplies is a family run independent builders’ merchant supplying tradesmen with building materials in the South Hams and Plymouth area from four depots. Palladium is a very active Partner within NBG and has a strong ironmongery offering, of which TIMco forms a vital strand.
Gary Olver, Palladium director: While Palladium is not an ironmongery specialist, we have put a lot of time and effort into our ironmongery offering. For instance, at Plymouth we have separate hardware departments on the top floor along with a key cutting service which draws a lot of trade through. In fact, we’ve developed this sector, using NBG deals, to such an extent that we see ourselves as the leading ironmongery stockist in Plymouth.
People first
As with most success stories in the merchanting trade, the key to a successful relationship is the people.
Keith Olver Palladium director: The two businesses are both family owned and run, and I think that means we think in similar ways – and that’s important. The two companies work together well at all levels. For instance, a good local representative is vital and TIMco’s John Gregson is exceptional – always proactive and he understands how Palladium and NBG work.
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Simon Rance TIMco sales director: : The ethos of TIMco is to ensure we employ the right people within the company that understand not only our business, but those of our customers, which results in a harmonious relationship benefitting all parties. A large part of TIMco’s success has been to recognise the strength of working within the independent builders merchant sector and Palladium, amongst other NBG Partners, are a perfect example of this.
Seeing the light SR: Lightside Suppliers such as TIMco can support merchants to compete within a retail environment, not just on price but on image and innovation too. TIMco have invested heavily in retail friendly merchandising solutions, that are supported by a national team of merchandisers and sales support. GO: Many NBG members are starting to see the benefits of lightside trade. TIMco offers quality products and packaging – quality inside and out – that are easy to stock and sell. With them it’s all about the brand and even the basic products are well-presented to make it easy for customers to select the correct products. They don’t arrive damaged and that adds value to our business
New horizons
TIMco prides itself on innovation, constantly reinvesting in the business to refresh its range and moving into different sectors – the latest being fence and gate ironmongery.
KO: Constant innovations by companies like TIMco help us make add-on and extra sales to our customers. If they launch a new product, they don’t just shoot it off into the ether, they send someone to see us and talk us through the new opportunity GO: TIMco is always reinvesting in the business, which is refreshing for us. We feel like we have the whole TiMco warehouse at our disposal and, because everything is available on next-day-delivery without fail, we don’t have to send customers away empty- handed.
So close is the relationship between the two brands that TiMco actually fulfils Palladium’s internet orders, sending product out branded with Palladium’s packaging and logos.
We don’t see NBG as an amorphous mass but a succession of individual, successful, unique businesses and we like to treat them as such.” Simon Rance:
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Plan to succeed SR: Even though merchants like Palladium are part of a larger buying group, we are able to produce a bespoke business plan including joint marketing. For instance, we produce an end-user brochure, which is branded Palladium, as well as breakfast mornings, POS, demos etc. This approach is backed up structurally at TIMco who have 16 Regional Business Consultants to manage their geographical area, rather than one key account manager to look after NBG as a whole. We view the NBG group as an important part of TIMco’s success, however we approach each member as an individual with unique requirements that we are able to support on an individual basis. KO: Suppliers who are active on the NBG Hub tend to be the ones that succeed. TIMco uploads promotions, very regularly, and that shows in their growth figures with the group. They are committed 100% to NBG, as proved by their platinum sponsorship at the conference. SR: We recognise that our success lies with the success of our customers so try to build a synergistic partnership that benefits all parties. That, in a nutshell is the secret of TiMco’s runaway success with NBG and why they are the 2017 Brand of the Year.
Bigger, Bolder, Better January 2018 BMJ
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