PARTNER FOCUS A PLUMBING
Woodstock Plumbing and Heating Supplies is one of the newest Partners to NBG. Director Scott Aldridge talks about why Woodstock joined NBG and what impact the partnership has had on the business ever since.
BMJ: Why was it important for Woodstock to be part of NBG? SA: “We’ve been in the merchanting business for about 25 years now so obviously we’re well aware of buying groups. We were never especially interested in joining one as, every time we looked into it, we felt that we’d be losing our independence. We got the impression with some groups that they essentially tell merchants how to do their jobs and the merchants have to fall in line. Why would we want that? “But then NBG contacted us so we checked them out. To be honest, it seemed a bit too good to be true. But one thing they did early on was introduce us to Excel Plumbing Supplies, another plumbing merchant who had joined NBG before us.
“We spoke quite a lot with Excel and they were really helpful in detailing the work that would be expected of us and the results we’d see. That made a big difference as we got to see how a merchant in our sector could retain their independence while getting the benefits that come with joining a buying group.
“I remember on one of the drives back from meeting with Excel, I felt like I had won the lottery by NBG approaching us. I think it was only about six weeks from that first conversation with NBG to us joining up.”
BMJ: What difference has NBG made to Woodstock? SA: “It’s had a massive difference. The people at NBG have been generous about sharing their experiences which has been unbelievably valuable to us. I expected everyone to be a bit closed off, seeing other merchants as competitors, but it’s nothing like that – it feels more like a family the way they want you to succeed. We’ve talked about ideas we’ve had for Woodstock and had Partners guide us away from expensive mistakes and towards things that’ll work for our business. This is all based on their own experiences – sometimes not great experiences – so it’s good to be able to talk to people who have been around the block already, and can give us the benefits of what they’ve learned.
“Another difference is how useful the regional meetings have been. 18 THIS IS YOUR LIFE SO FAR...
MERCHANT’S FIRST YEAR WITH NBG
These are when merchants of all types get together and the only thing they have in common is their location and the fact that they’re NBG Partners. I was actually a bit sceptical of these meetings. I thought, as a plumbing merchant, what am I going to learn from a builders merchant? But it’s been fantastic. Hearing about the successes they’ve had with their product lines made me realise there’s a load of products we could be stocking; things that plumbers use but we tend to think of as equipment for builders. So now we’ve added all sorts of things like chisels, drills, fixings and workwear. The regional meetings opened my eyes to how Woodstock could be a more complete one-stop-shop for our customer base.”
BMJ: You’ve been part of NBG for just over a year. What do you see the next year bringing? SA: “Like any business, we’ve always got one eye on expanding and it’s happening much quicker than we’d have been able to do alone. We’re building a mezzanine soon to accommodate the extra stock we need because business has been doing so well. “NBG’s helped us streamline our Suppliers and made us a lot smarter about how we’re buying. We’re going to be taking on more Suppliers, more product lines, and that means more stock. At the moment, we’re in a fantastic position and NBG has been a significant part of our recent success. We’re really looking forward to the next 12 months and seeing the progress we can continue making with NBG’s support.”
January 2024
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