MERCHANT FOCUS: BENCE
“We are only as good as our employees, so we place a strong focus on employee training, satisfaction and product
confidence, so our people can provide customer service that goes above and beyond.”
offers apprenticeships in its wood machine shop to help pass on its knowledge to the next generation of merchants.
By offering apprenticeships, The George Bence Group is supporting the work that NMBS is doing with construction apprenticeships specialist LEAP, to train scores of builders’ merchant apprentices each year. This helps to address the skills gap while maximising the use of levy funds across the construction sector.
Beyond sharing knowledge with the next generation, The George Bence Group has always been active in the local community. During the past few decades, it has raised more than £100,000 for local charities like Cotswold Breast Cancer Awareness and the Sue Ryder Cancer Charity. It has supplied and fitted the Cobalt Garden Facility at Cheltenham General Hospital and has also
been the main sponsor of the Cheltenham Town Football Club for four years.
Family first
This support in the local community is also mirrored within the business. “Family has always been at the heart of everything we do, and we strive to treat our clients as an extension of our own family,” Bence says. “We always make our business events personal by inviting family and partners to our days out and international seminars.” The family-first approach also extends to employees. Staff retention is four times higher than the national average in the company, with some employees working in the business for almost 60 years. He continues: “We are only as good as our employees, so we place a strong focus on
October 2024
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net
employee training, satisfaction and product confidence, so our people can provide customer service that goes above and beyond.” NMBS CEO Chris Hayward adds: “The George Bence Group is an example of what an independent business can do to support their local community, the next generation and their employees. This is why we have declared 2024 as the ‘year of the independent builders’ merchant’ and launched a year-long campaign to celebrate these types of businesses across our industry.
“Only 0.001% of all businesses make it to their 170th anniversary, so it is a massive achievement from all six generations of Bences that have shaped the business and we are grateful to support them throughout their years of success.” BMJ
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