MERCHANT FOCUS: FORT
taking visitors on a walk round it that will flow past as wide a selection as possible, rather like the Ikea showroom walkway.
“We’re not really that different from any other merchant or retailer, really,” says Kiely. “We want to make it as easy as possible for anyone to do business with us. I want to put as much of what you are looking for in front of you and try and make it as easy as possible for us to get any of the rest of it to you. We can do that by having lots of images or displays, or brochures and samples or by taking you through the showroom on a pathway. We know that we can’t display a huge number of bathrooms or kitchen or doors or windows, with all their variations, but if we can have the knowledge and the ability to find out what the customer is looking for and put a solution in front of them that is helpful then hopefully, we will get that business. Obviously, we also have to be in the right place in terms of the price and the service levels as well. If we get the knowledge and the service and the relationships with the suppliers right then we can talk to the customer and find what it is they need.”
One of FORT’s strengths Gelardi believe is the assembled knowledge of architecture and plans. He says: “If a customer comes in with some architectural plans, whether a small extension or large new build, we can deal with that. We have people here who understand what we’re looking at, the sort of problems that customers might come up against. We may not have, say, the septic tank that’s on the plans on our shelves, but we know the supplier, we can ask the right questions. Having the expertise and the knowledge means that we can at least have a bit of the apple instead of having to pass the job to a more specialist supplier.”
Specialist service
This knowledge and understanding of plans led to the FORT Estimate service. Customers can send FORT a PDF of their proposed project, the architectural plans and FORT outsource the QS part and apply the customer’s specific trade
pricing to that. “Our customers get their drawings and bills of quantity with their own specific prices, which is really helpful to them, but from our point of view, what the customer gets is a FORT document, with FORT product descriptions, a quantified schedule of works, materials list, labour rates, FORT product codes and the customer’s specific prices,” Fryer says. Taking it one step further, the company will then get the whole project quoted up as far as possible. That might mean sourcing the design and specification of the cavity wall insulation, roof trusses, specialist guttering or the drainage system.
Gelardi explains: “It all comes back to making FORT as easy as possible to do business with. With FORT Estimate, our customer will know exactly how much it will cost them to do the job at today’s prices, rather than market general prices. We can work out the scaffolding costs, the foreman costs, the fencing, and it becomes a FORT document.”
He adds that, with FORT holding their copy of the schedule, ordering of product on time becomes a much simpler, smoother operation. There is also a client-facing version that the builder can use if they are going out to tender; this can be manipulated to incorporate their own mark-up or removing the labour cost line. Although FORT Estimate isn’t a project management tool as such, it can be used to manage the project. “We have a copy; the builder has a copy and the homeowner will have their copy, so it’s a real benefit to their business. With the majority of our customers being white van man, using this service gives them confidence that they are costing everything out right, that they know which materials are required when, and they also win more jobs because we give them a really professional looking package.” The company won’t win every bit of business, of course, Kiely says. “We’re not specialists, and some customers might need a more specialist merchant. However, we hope that, even if they do go somewhere else, we’d like to think that, in future, they might remember us and give us another chance. It’s about knowing the options that are available to our customers.”
March 2023
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net
Knowing those options is helped by the company’s membership of the independent buying group h&b, Fryer says. “We knew from the start that we wanted to be in a buying group and with Brewers being one of the founding members of h&b, it made sense for us to try and regain membership of that group. We are a small business and the directors are heavily involved in the day to day, and that allows us the flexibility to make decisions immediately, without waiting for decisions to go up the chain and make again. We were able to source most of the stock we needed, but what being part of h&B has done is give a bit of structure to the relationships with suppliers and of course brought us better buying because of the numbers involved in being part of a larger whole.”
Regional appeal Customers broadly tend to come from a radius of about 15 to 20 miles, though customers have, on occasion come from as far down as Exeter and as far up as Norfolk. Gelardi says that this tends to be when more local customers have picked up work further afield, as well as regional builders who have used FORT because they happen to be working in the local area.
“If we can make sure we treat them properly when they are working out of our area, we might not make as much money on those particular jobs, but we stand a great chance of keeping those customers’ business when they are back in our prime trading zone. Obviously, it still has to make economic sense; if we got a call for a delivery in Scotland, we would think about collaborating with another h&b member or look at direct-to-site. “We want to be more than just a general merchant to people, we want to be all about the quality, the service and trying that little bit harder to match our customers’ needs and exceed their expectations.” BMJ
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