Whilst the coronavirus crisis has plunged the market into uncertainty, Jenny Smith-Andrews, Marketing Manager at H+H, considers the longer term view by discussing the basis of the supply chain relationships the company sets up with its merchant customers.
As the largest supplier of a staple product for the UK housebuilding industry, H+H has always looked to develop long term partnerships with customers, based on mutual trust. It may sound virtuous, but we believe that this approach has allowed us to weather economic storms and market dynamics and build a stronger and more resilient business.
At the heart of this approach is the belief that our business relationships are more than simply transactional. Trust is built through honest and transparent communication, fair dealing and a recognition of our mutual dependence.
It’s been a bit of a roller-coaster ride over the last few years, with the H+H Group making huge decisions on the timing of investment in our manufacturing and product development. The most recent of these was the decision to make the multi-million pound investment in a complete refurbishment of our Borough Green factory in 2018.
Merchant customers may remember that the timing of this process meant that we were facing the most buoyant market in years with a 30% reduction in our manufacturing volume for six months.
We met this challenge head-on and, as ever, worked together with our customers to manage stocks. Telling customers that they cannot have as much product as they want is never easy, but the test of an honest communication strategy comes when things are not easy. We kept our customers updated regularly; we kept our word in terms of supply; managed stocks honestly, always prioritising the customers with whom we had long-established partnerships.
There have been periods when it would have been an apparently easy decision to capitalise on strong demand and divert product from established customers onto more immediately profitable spot market sales. We have never taken this approach, considering that the longer term commitment provides for more manageable trading relationships which will ultimately prove commercially more rewarding.
To this end we are also happy to support our customers with participation in trading day promotions, on-site training and online training resources to help merchant counter staff better understand our products — enabling them in turn to give better advice to their own customers.
As we enter an unprecedented period of closure and remote working, so our online information resources will become even more significant. Our YouTube channel (hhcelcon) and resources section of our website contain a range of instructional videos demonstrating different wall constructions, from Party Walls and Spandrels, through to foundations, Thin-Joint construction and our offsite Celcon Elements products.
Our online Academy — accessed via our website — is designed specifically for merchants, taking learners on a step-by-step programme of understanding more about aircrete.
As I write this piece, it is fair to say that we have no idea how long the current hiatus will last or the longer term effects of such a drastic interruption in normal trading activity. All we can say is that no manufacturing organisation invests for the short term or anticipates trouble-free trading.
There is a future at the other side of the current situation and we have our sights set on that future when we can resume our partnership habits, retaining our strong position in established supply chains.
Access the H+H online Academy via: https://www.hhcelcon.co.uk/resources/learning
