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collaboration with key distributors and a greater emphasis on knowledge transfer.
Jones explains: “With Bradford the next stage is rolling out the next set of training through the summer, and then do another tour on our modern solutions training.
of branch-level training was introduced to build familiarity with specialist timber and panel products. This was designed to help teams better understand product applications and respond more effectively to customer enquiries.
“We are halfway through building a new 300,000 square foot National Distribution Centre in Chatteris in the midlands, which is due to open in 2027. It’s going to house both specialist and general stock, so no product will ever be too far away.”
A successful model
Jones describes Bradfords as James Latham’s “biggest success story”, noting the business has grown significantly over the past two to three years.
“I think Bradford has basically been our success model. We’ve built a model now within our business, and we can roll it out to any merchant, whether they’re an independent or a national.”
“Our distribution model is desired by the merchant sector because we can take a lot of cost out for them. We can offer quick on site in full service. And I think that’s a key part of our offering going forward”
Product knowledge Alongside this new supply model, James Latham has placed greater emphasis on improving product knowledge. A program
“The training was brought around when Bradfords wanted us to educate their staff on plywood grades” says Jones. “The goal wasn’t to make them plywood experts, it was to make them feel a bit more comfortable and to understand the differences in classes of plywood. A 45-minute training lunch, and then a couple of us toured the branches over a three-month period. We had small teams in each branch. We would go through probably four or five training sessions a day. We then devised we’d also look at value added colours and gave them the opportunity again to feel more comfortable with the product and improve the service offering. It has grown from there across our ranges.
“We did a review meeting after the first three months of training and we could see increased sales. We can see increased understanding, and that’s the key thing. Their staff don’t need to be experts. They just need to know what we offer.” Together, these changes combined supply chain consolidation, reduced stock exposure and improved in-branch capability, creating a more flexible approach to specialist product demand.
Across the sector
Bradfords’ experience highlights a wider shift within the merchant sector. As demand for specialist materials increases, traditional stock-led models can become less viable, particularly for products with lower turnover.
In response, more merchants are adopting supply chain approaches that prioritize access over ownership of stock, supported by closer
June 2026
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net
“From there, the National Distribution Centre will enhance and improve our offering from 2027. Then we will see where the market goes. It’s a difficult market at the moment, and I’m sure there’ll be some ups and downs for Bradfords as well. We’ll work with them through that, with market changes and demand and we would look to roll our services out with others. “Most of our merchant business tends to be with independents or independent merchants as part of buying groups. Our work with Bradfords initially started through H&B Buying Group, so we’ve got a lot of buying group agreements and we’re also working with likes of Jewson, Travis Perkins and MKM on the national offering.
“One other thing that we’ve been working on is to launch our e-commerce site, which will enable merchants to just log in and place their orders, whether it’s bulk or repeat orders. It’s not taking away from our depot, but it will save time for those who just want to order the same thing over and over again. Our plan is to role that out in conjunction with the National Distribution Centre.
“Our website landing page is very merchant focused, and is home to our cladding visualizer, which allows the end user or the merchant member to look at different types of cladding in different situations with different profiles. The e-commerce site sits as a satellite to the main site, and we also have a digital showroom, with over 1,500 products, which can also be used to place sample orders. “We took five different building types; detached house, terrace house, commercial building, and retail, got the materials CGI rendered by an industrial scanning company, and now a customer can sit there and spend hours in an evening going through different elements from cladding types, colours, profiles, orientations, and they can order samples direct from it. Then, they can complete a document to take to their merchant. It takes away a lot of that time and effort of consulting element and makes the merchant’s job easier. “Merchants can get in contact with one of our merchant champions; the people who look after merchant needs at any one of our depos. We also have the merchant landing page on our website, where they can put enquiries through, order samples, or ask for a callback, and obviously through our social media. There’s plenty of avenues and we’ll follow every one of them up.” BMJ
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