Talasey is on the move — in all sorts of ways. Marketing Director Rebecca Hughes tells PBM about the many developments taking place around the business, and how they are focused on improving the way it supports merchants.
Not content with merely consolidating its position as one of the UK’s leading independent suppliers of landscaping solutions, Talasey is in the midst of a significant step change for a business as we look to capitalise on the raft of opportunities in the merchant sector.
Our statement of intent is best demonstrated by our recent move to a new four-acre head office site in Scunthorpe. We were bursting at the seams at our former site in Sandtoft and needed more office space, more storage space and more facilities for our on-site Talasey Training Academy.
The business has made a significant investment to transform the site, and not just to increase the capacity for more people to join our team in the months and years ahead — we have also created a UK inspiration hub for the landscaping industry, and a destination for merchants to host events and training for their staff and customers.
We finally have enough space to do justice to the displays of our core brands — Natural Paving, Vitripiazza, Luxigraze, Piranha and Pavetuf — so that visitors can’t fail but to be inspired by our products and can get lots of ideas about how they can be used to make stunning garden and landscaping features.
“We remain committed to the merchant-only supply model and not dealing directly with consumers or end-users. But much of what we do is rooted in making it as easy as possible for merchants to engage with their own customers and make our brands the go-to for landscapers and tradespeople looking for quality products for landscaping projects.”
And we can host at scale because we have facilities to enable more than 70 delegates at any one time to take part in training and meetings, as well as other break-out rooms and hot desks.
Everyone who’s been to our new head office agrees that it’s jaw-dropping, but make no mistake: we haven’t taken our eyes off the ball when it comes to how we service and support our merchant customers. Far from it — and we’ve been equally busy moving forward innovating, developing and refining every aspect of what we do so that we can help merchants improve the skills, knowledge and experience that they are able to offer their customers.
We remain committed to the merchant-only supply model and not dealing directly with consumers or end-users. But much of what we do is rooted in making it as easy as possible for merchants to engage with their own customers and make our brands the go-to for landscapers and tradespeople looking for quality products for landscaping projects.
Talasey on Tour
We have also been working with our merchant partners to find new solutions for showcasing our products. Installations at merchants’ sites can be costly and take up significant space — and then there’s the maintenance of the displays and the best way to manage them if certain products become discontinued.
This is still a good option for merchants where landscaping is a significant proportion of their business, but for others, our Talasey on Tour initiative is already proving to be a big hit. A fully branded mobile showroom that is ideal for pop-up merchant events, the vehicle is staffed by our team so we are on hand to help merchant customers with questions, hints and tips, or general advice.
It is also useful for merchant staff, who can benefit from training as part of their continuing professional development (CPD). Given the success of this, we are already looking at ways to expand our Talasey on Tour fleet.
Furthermore, we will also shortly be announcing news about another new structure of support that is being introduced to increase the amount and availability of support for merchants — with a team of merchandisers who will be there to support merchants with trade days, training, point of sale and more.
Point of sale
We have been equally innovative when it comes to point of sale (POS). We were one of the first businesses to use the toast rack method of displaying products — especially for our Natural Paving and Vitripiazza (porcelain paving) brands. We take it as a compliment that others are following suit because toast racks are a great way to see the different options, especially for larger-sized paving products.
We have also introduced revolving displays, which we pioneered for our Piranha composite decking, fencing and cladding brand, as one range has a wood-effect pattern on one side and a colour-matching traditional grooved finish on the reverse. The other has a reverse colour which is ideal for edging. It’s a simple idea, but it really helps to show off the options.
Everyone’s welcome
While we’re busy rolling out initiatives such as Talasey on Tour and the constantly evolving POS that can be found at merchants’ sites, we are very happy to say that merchants will get a very warm welcome at our new head office, where all of these innovations and developments all come together as one — helping to make perfect sense for how Talasey is moving forward.
Click here for more information on Talasey’s brands and support services for merchants.
A version of this article appeared in the May issue of PBM. Click here to read the full issue online.
