John Addicott, Director of Tamar Trading, explains how introducing a dedicated kitchens team has given NBG partners improved focus on the product sector and allowed them to expand their customer offer.
Mixed merchant Tamar Trading opened its first branch in Devon in the late 1950s. Now, more than 60 years later, Tamar has three branches — with a fourth opening soon — and supplies building materials across Devon and Cornwall.
Director John Addicott has been a part of the growth of Tamar Trading since it joined NBG 11 years ago. He said: “When we first joined NBG we only had the one branch in North Devon. Now we have three, including two kitchen and bathroom showrooms, and are getting ready to open our fourth branch in Bideford this spring. I would definitely say that becoming an NBG partner has been a primary catalyst for our growth as it’s improved our buying routines and enabled us to become more competitive.”
Tamar has been a member of the Plumbing, Heating and Showrooms Category Management Team (CMT) since its launch. John said: “Becoming a member of the CMT has opened up doors for Tamar as it’s given us access to a network of like-minded partners and all of their experience and knowledge. As an extension to the plumbing and heating CMT, we set up a dedicated kitchens team just over a year ago. Kitchens was an area that some partners were already passionate about and wanted to grow. Setting up the team allowed us to establish a stronger focus on kitchens.”
According to the Global Kitchen Study, released in September 2019 by Consentino, the kitchen is maintaining its role as the central point of a home with homeowners saying that in addition to eating main meals, their kitchens are used as hosting spaces, meeting points for the family and workspaces. The study also revealed that 62% of people said that functionality is a priority when renovating or re-designing their kitchen.
John is the leader of the kitchen team, currently comprising seven partners. He noted: “We started the set-up process by holding a series of focus group discussions with partners and visiting suppliers. With the primary aim of securing some great deals and finding products to suit the evolving needs of our customers, we conducted negotiations with suppliers of kitchen furniture, appliances, sinks and taps, and worktops. The key activity has been developing relationships with new and existing suppliers. All the hard work is paying off as our new deals will kick in this month.”
John added: “The kitchen team works so well as all its members have a vested interest in kitchens. It has given us an improved focus on the category and identified new products and suppliers that will benefit our customers. One of the new deals we are excited about is with Gower Furniture. It will allow us to offer complete kitchen units in a box, straight off the shelf. It will give our customers something new to consider and hopefully give us a point of difference from our competitors. We’ll be stocking Gower products in our new branch from spring.”
For more information, visit nationalbuyinggroup.com, find them on Twitter at @NBGLLP or on LinkedIn at National Buying Group.
NBG News
- The results of NBG’s Sales Barometer revealed that 95% of Partners said that building strong relationships with Suppliers is a good way to maximise sales. Full results of the Barometer can be found on NBG’s social media channels.
- NBG partners and suppliers were celebrating success over Christmas with lots of award wins at our annual conference, the BMN Awards and Toolbank’s Real Deals for You.
- At our annual conference, we raised a total of £10, 468.80 for charity. NBG was delighted to announce that they would match the pot so a grand total of £20,500 was split between The Rainy Day Trust and Macmillan Cancer Support.
For details of the Global Kitchen Study, released in September 2019 by Consentino, click https://www.cosentino.com/usa/news/cosentino-releases-the-2019-global-kitchen-study/
