NBG Partner Cowal Building & Plumbing Supplies has strengthened its presence in Western Scotland with the acquisition of Reddance Building Supplies in Dalry in Ayrshire.
The amalgamation of the two businesses brings the Cowal depot tally to four and brings together two independent family-run merchant businesses with strong local brand identities and customer loyalty.
Cowal Building & Plumbing Supplies already had three thriving depots at Dunoon, Balloch Alexandria, and Rothesay offering an extensive mixed merchant stock including heavy-side, timber, landscaping, roofing and plumbing & heating supplies.
The addition of Reddance to the Cowal family brings with it an extremely well-run two acre site with a loyal customer base and a strong management team headed up by Liz Spence, one of the founding family. Apart from Jim McCrae & his wife Michelle who are taking a well-earned rest after over 30 years of building up the business, the whole team at Reddance is being retained, keeping the strong family ties within the company.
Cowal MD Stewart Shaw is nothing short of delighted by the addition of Reddance to the Cowal family. “Reddance is an extremely well-run business and it has been a pleasure to work with the McCrae family at Reddance in bringing the depot on board,” he says. “I believe we have struck the perfect balance of retaining excellent staff and maintaining the family business values that have made Reddance the successful merchant it is today, whilst offering back office and admin support from a larger business. That allows Liz Spence and her team at the Dalry depot to concentrate on what they do best — running a very efficient merchanting operation. We as Cowal look forward to developing the business as a whole with our new & existing teams and are constantly looking for further opportunities to expand in the Scottish building & plumbing merchant market.
NBG buying deals lie at the heart of the successful integration of Reddance into the Cowal business. “The purchase ledgers have been integrated since day one and the Reddance depot is already taking deliveries from its new NBG suppliers,” continues Stewart. We are completely committed to NBG’s buying deals, which are central to how we run the Cowal business and will play a major role in the success of this new venture.”
Reddance’s Liz Spence is equally pleased with the new partnership. “We are very happy that the strong family values which Reddance has built its success and reputation on will continue under the new ownership,” she says. “We know that these values are important to our customers and so the family and the whole team are looking forward to working with the Cowal team.”
