32
FEBRUARY 2016 PRO INSTALLER
TRADE COUNTERS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
TRADE COUNTER SPOTLIGHT:
MIDLAND
BUILDING
PLASTICS
OVERVIEW
Well-established business Midland Building Plastics supplies in
excess of 6,000 different products
from building, roofing and drainage materials to tools, products
for decorating and interiors to
sealants and adhesives.
The company has eight depots
and is open six days a week to
trade and the public, catering for
refurbishment and new build and
stocking many brands including
Ceresit, Stanley, TIMco and Kayflow.
General manager Carl Allen said
the Derby branch had around 180
customers on average calling in
each day, picking up everything
from paint to underground drainage, rubber roofing and timber. He
added: “The trade counter is really
busy. This is what it’s like all
day every day – and nearly every
customer that comes in here buys
a tool.”
Wetherby Road,
Ascot Drive,
Derby,
DE24 8HL
Tel: 01332 362999
Fax: 01332 348333
More Midland Building
Plastics branches:
Burton-on-Trent
Derby City
Lichfield
Newark
Grantham
Hucknall
Long Eaton
Visit the website for
more information:
midlandbuildingplastics.com
COMPANY BACKGROUND
The business has been established since 2005 and altogether
has 22 members of staff across its
depots. It is expanding and tends
not to rely too heavily on one
source of revenue - it doesn’t just
do building plastics. Much of the
business tends to be seasonal. In
summer, it’s fascias and soffits
because people are spending
more time in the garden and after
winter people come in who want
to replace gutters as the rain inevitably highlights faulty guttering.
The Derby branch is continually growing based on demand
and new products, and currently
needs to make more office space.
Carl said: “We started off selling
fascias and soffits. Now we sell
underground drainage, rubber
roofing, timber, tools and paint.
We are bringing new products
on all the time and that’s how
we stay one step ahead. We have
increased volume and last year
month on month we beat our
targets.”
Another busy day at
Midland Building Plastics
LOCATION
PRODUCTS
The company’s eight depots are
in Derby, Derby City, Burton-onTrent, Lichfield, Long Eaton, Newark, Grantham and Hucknall. Derby is the largest depot followed by
Newark and Burton. The Derby
depot is just off Wetherby Drive
- one of the biggest run through
roads in the city.
A lot of stock has been taken
outside and doing that has increased sales because people see
more of what’s on offer. Two years
ago the business was not even
looking at timber but now that’s
the purchase that two out of three
customers choose.
The business ethos is all about
convenience and service - not necessarily all about price. It has an
online presence but people choose
to come to the trade counter when
they want to buy. It can take 40
minutes for them to get right into
town so the Derby trade counter is
in a convenient place.
Carl said: “We have our own
warehouse giving us virtually
unlimited supply for ourselves,
meaning no overheads, and no
transport costs. We like to try
and keep pricing consistent. For
example, if one of my customers
goes from here to Long Eaton
branch he wants to pay the same
price.”
The business believes that knowledge of a product sells it as well as
the expertise to advise customers
how to do a particular job they have
in hand. The staff have nearly 70
years of industry knowledge and a
lot of DIYers and the public in general ask them what is the best way
to install various products. During
our visit, a video was playing in the
trade counter showing customers
how to install rubber roofing.
Others were browsing among
items like Splash Pad waterproof
panelling, TIMco screws and
StarFix frame fixings. On occasion, it has taken staff up to a year
to convince customers that one
particular new product is the way
forward – but once convinced,
they never go back. Other brands
on sale are renowned for their
foolproof instructional guides.
Best sellers are underground
drainage and roofline products.
The business keeps in excess
of 120 linear metres of rubber
roofing and has had to build new
storage to accommodate its vast
stock of timber boards. All the timber stocked is specific to what customers use. The trade counter also
sells many other items that you
might not expect – like artificial
grass, rubber safety tiles for kids’
play parks, and insulation.