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RANGE REVIEW: MADE IN BRITAIN


He insists that, unlike his own in-house workforce, the manufacturers he was sourcing from in China don’t have as much of a vested interest in the product and its performance. “They know you’re not going to send a whole container back if there are issues. The cost to do so would be enormous!” Whilst the idea of sourcing from


abroad may seem like an attractive option to keep costs down, Peter says people don’t realise that “so much can go wrong” and that any kind of flexibility is out of the window. “The amount of ships that break down or lose a propeller is amazing! Bearing in mind lead times are between two and three months – as soon as that container doesn’t turn up, then you’ve got people cancelling and you’ve lost orders. That can be devastating.” Riverco only started selling into the trade in September but already supplies several garden centre groups. “We supply Klondyke, for example,” he explains. “Our sales guy Dave visits the centres regularly to make sure everything


is going as it should be and, if there are any issues or things that need changing, we can do that right away. We just couldn’t do that if we still imported.”


Creating opportunities Ecoefective also sells into garden centre businesses and believes, as well as benefitting from better flexibility, these retailers are in a great position to champion British- made products to an appreciative audience. Matt Jones explains: “If you take the garden centre market we operate in as a good example, there are lots of family-owned businesses looking to differentiate and offer added-value products and service compared to their larger competitors. I believe the ability to showcase products made locally in Britain supports that position, and they have a customer base that will appreciate it.” Both Riverco and Ecoefective


proudly promote their British-made credentials and feel it is a big part of their USP. Peter, who founded the business


with his wife Jan, is keen to source as much as he can from within the UK, from raw materials to packaging. “Frogsuit, for example is made at a facility in Thetford and the bottles are all made in the UK as well,” he explains. “The only part I cannot source in the UK is the trigger because it requires a CRC safety trigger and the only place I can get these made is in Italy.” As Brexit is the buzzword at the moment, just what effect will it have on British manufacturing? “It’s already having an effect,” says Peter. “It’s put about 10% on my timber costs and that is going to put a lot on my bottom line because we haven’t put our prices up this year. We had a meeting with our supplier, who we have a great relationship with, and they have agreed to share some of the burden with us and not pass all of the costs on. Business relationships like that, which are like friendships to me, are so important for managing situations like this.” He continues: “We have had a delay with our delivery because


there has been a timber shortage around the world, where the Chinese have been buying everything up. Our supplier called us to explain and say they were a few days behind but have put on a night shift and the timber will be with us first thing tomorrow. We have a great relationship with them but you also wouldn’t get a turnaround that quickly if they weren’t based in the UK. It’s why, where possible I try to keep it British.” And, what about the retailer – has


Brexit made British-made products a more attractive proposition to retail operators? “The Brexit process has certainly


forced people to think more deeply about the impact on their businesses today and into the future,” says Matt. “In the absence of clarity over future trading terms with the EU, having a supply chain in place now that isn’t crossing borders and managing high levels of exchange rate risk should bring some price stability and make planning between suppliers and customers much easier.”


www.diyweek.net


11 MAY 2018 DIY WEEK 19


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