MERCHANT FOCUS: DAVIES BUILDERS MERCHANTS
is largely publicised by word of mouth and personal recommendations, DeBanks says. “My wife Miliana runs that side of things.” He adds that the wholesale arm – DBM – probably accounts for 40% of total turnover. One of the first wholesale customers was TAF Building Supplies in St Clear, which was acquired by Davies Builders Merchants in September last year. DeBanks says: “We’d been supplying them for probably 15 years or so, they used to buy a lot, possibly as much as 40% of their stock came from us. So, when the owners wanted to retire, it made sense for us to step in, as they were quite a big chunk of business for us. It meant that we could keep all their staff on, so the customers have that continuity. We were happy to be able to keep them as an independent business, rather than losing them to one of the bigger national chains.”
The branch is now being run as Davies Builders Merchants St Clear branch. He adds that the acquisition has opened up the profile of Davies Builders Merchants to customers in the St Clear area, as well as brought in newer customers. He adds that, because TAF Building Supplies was a customer for so many years, Davies Builders Merchants didn’t really attack the market in that immediate area. Now, though, they have a salesman going round the area, hunting out the customers, and bringing in extra orders.
“As TAF, they didn’t really deal with the bigger builder customers that we do. There were lots of smaller ones on the books, but we have been able to open the market up for
them. Plus, the development that we have put in will raise the profile, and customers who might not have really had that branch on their radar might now think they’ll give us a go. For example, as Davies Builders Merchants, we didn’t really do much business with customers in Carmarthen, but we have a higher profile now, and that will bring in more customers from that area.”
DeBanks says that the St Clear branch, when they bought it, needed some redevelopment to bring it in keeping with the Whitland branch. “It needed some love. So we revamped it, put in new racking, completely fitted out the shop, put a new bigger building in, and added a kitchen, bathroom and bedroom showroom.” The company held a grand opening of the new branch at the end of January, which featured a cookery demonstration with TV chef and cookery writer Peter Sidwell, special on-the-night prices and raffle prizes.”
What keeps customers coming back to Davies Builders Merchants is the service, DeBanks believes. More specifically, it’s the delivery service. “That is the number one priority. Get the order, and then ensure that that order is delivered as soon as possible. Everything else works from there. Often the fact that we can get products to where they need to be, when they need to be there will come before price in a customer’s
March 2025
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net
consideration. The cheapest product is the most expensive if you can’t get hold of it,” he says. “Sometimes, we can even get things to a customer within an hour. I always think we operate a bit like a taxi service at times.” The company was part of the buying group Western Builders Merchants which merged with h&b in 2008, and DBM moved across then. Not everything the company sells is part of an h&b deal, but DeBanks says that the intangible benefits, and the group support is a great help to the business. “Plus, of course, the rebates on the financial side, and the time that’s saved by having many of the negotiations done by other people. In our early days, it would have been down to me, with reps from various companies all queuing up outside the door to come in. And now, because so much of that is done via h&b, it frees me up to get on with other things.” The focus for the immediate future, DeBanks says, is to ensure that the redevelopment of the St Clear branch goes smoothly, with any future investment on top of that likely to be in the transport and delivery offer. “Every time we need a new lorry, it’s a big chunk of money, and it needs to be planned for. It’s not spare change from the back of the sofa. But we always invest in keeping the lorries, the vans and the transport infrastructure up to date, because we pride ourselves on keeping to our delivery promise. That’s who we are.” BMJ
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