Awards Supplement
...but their hard work continues A
Lifetime achievers
t the recent BKU Awards ceremony in London, Mel and Andrew Streek – Joint Managing Directors of Claygate Distribution Ltd, were recognised for their outstanding contribution to the bathroom industry. We recently got together with Mel and Andrew to ask what it feels like to be the just recipients of a Lifetime Achievement Award and asked what still drives them on...
BKU: You looked a bit shell shocked when they announced you had won the Lifetime Achievement Award? What’s it like being Lifetime Achievers?
Mel: Gosh you’re absolutely right! It did take a few minutes to realise it was us they were talking about! Neither of us are ever really lost for words but on this occasion it took a little while to sink in! If someone had told me thirty years ago that we would one day be awarded by our friends and colleagues within the bathroom industry with an award for outstanding contribution to anything - let alone the industry we love so much - I would have thought they were mad. That night was very special and I don’t mind admitting it brought more than a few tears to my eyes!
BKU: What got you into the bathroom business?
Andrew: It was 1985 and things were pretty tough. We might embellish the story a bit now, but in true entrepreneur fashion we bought an ex Mid-Kent Water Mini-Van for a couple of hundred quid and Maidstone Plumbing was born. I was a trained artexer at the time and when required I would go artex a few ceilings to
Mel and Andrew Streek receive their awards from host, Jimmy Carr (left) and presented by last years winner, Roger Kyme (right), Founder of Ripples Bathrooms
pay the bills whilst Mel ran our trade counter. When I was back on the counter, Mel would go calling on all the builders and plumbers driving sales. Gradually we recognised that the independent bathroom merchant was poorly serviced and so Claygate Distribution Ltd was formed to give the independents what they needed and more importantly when they needed it! I don’t mind admitting we weren’t that knowledgeable at that time, but our parents’ hard work philosophy and some very much needed guidance was at the core of everything we did. As anybody who knows us will tell you, I’m very much the steering wheel while Mel is very much the accelerator - and as neither Mel nor I do anything by halves, the rest, as they say is history! Our partnership works really well and there’s never a dull moment.
BKU: What’s been your biggest business achievement to date?
Andrew: We both agree wholeheartedly that the move into our state-of-the-art premises in Marden, Kent, was the culmination of all our ambitions in one! We both had a dream very early on to have the best run bathroom distribution hub in the UK - and we now
have an impressive 145,000sq ft of warehouse space, a fleet of 35 lorries and a fully operational training room and modern office complex. We are also very well placed for the major road networks and the fact that we are located in the heart of the lovely Kent countryside is a wonderful bonus.
BKU: What’s been the key to your success?
Mel: I know it’s a bit of a cliché but we have absolutely been driven by our desire to do the job properly rather than just simply growing the business at all costs. Size in business means nothing without loyal customers, and the only way you can get loyalty is to deliver on your promises. Also, we have a great team of people at Claygate - we have a lot of staff still with us from the very start and if you have loyal staff it makes the journey so much easier! Over the years as the business has grown, we have also put in place a senior management team to work alongside Andrew and myself and now have a strong, solid staff structure supporting our business, our suppliers and our customers.
BKU: What does the future hold for you and Claygate Distribution Ltd?
Andrew: It’s pretty simple really - two words say it all - “improve” and “challenge” everything we do! If you can’t change or improve something for the better on a daily basis then you’re not doing your job! One thing we can see is that the bathroom industry is constantly changing and in most cases changing for the better - although there are of course some challenges along the way. We aim constantly to invest in our staff and operations so as to remain flexible and maintain growth - and key for us, we always strive to remain loyal to our suppliers. It’s always been a philosophy of Mel and myself to ensure our suppliers get paid on time as we both believe in treating our business partners the way we would indeed like to be treated, and you don’t often go very wrong! It’s very much a two way relationship. We have found that if you develop strong friendships along the way, great partnerships evolve and at the end of the day it is our customers who benefit from that.
claygate 4 BKU AUGUST 2017 AWARDS SUPPLEMENT
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