1840 Podcast - S1 EP 5 - Branch Spotlight: Enfield

00:0 | [Music / Intro count-in]

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0:05 | Paul Bullivant (Host):

Hello everybody, welcome back to the Howarth Timber and Building Supplies 1840 Podcast. I’m Paul Bullivant, your host, and in today’s episode we’re putting a branch spotlight on our Enfield branch.

 

And I’m really delighted to welcome our two guests: Adrian Kaczor, our Branch Manager, and Aron Ford, who’s our Regional Manager for the South, all the way up from London to come and join us today. So thanks for joining us, thanks for coming up.

 

0:28 | Adrian Kaczor:

Thanks for having us.

 

0:30 | Aron Ford:

Thanks for having us.

 

0:32 | Paul:

I’m going to start in a slightly different place to normal. I like to do a bit of research on the towns that we’re in when we’re doing these. I thought I’d just Google a few facts on Enfield, obviously being up from the grim North is not somewhere I’m particularly aware of.

 

So here’s five, six facts about Enfield. Enfield is a town in North London with a population of 333,000.

 

0:50 | Aron:

That’s a big population.

 

0:52 | Paul:

Yeah, that’s not a million miles away from the likes of Leeds, which we see as a really big city, so that was a surprise. And there’s lots of stuff going on in Enfield. Are you aware of all the stuff that’s gone on in Enfield?

 

1:08 | Aron:

I live closer, so I visit the branch, but I don’t, as it’s out of the town, I don’t go to the town centre too often, no.

 

1:13 | Paul:

I was amazed at how much really big stuff’s gone on.

 

In June 1967, Barclays Bank in Enfield Town Centre opened the first ever cash machine. So the first cash machine in the whole world was opened in Enfield. I thought, well, that’s big.

 

Then there’s this one: the first dishwasher to be mass-produced was produced in Hotpoint’s Enfield plant.

 

The world’s first solid-state colour televisions were manufactured by Ferguson in Enfield.

 

So that’s cash machines, dishwashers, televisions.

 

And then for some real history: the Lee-Enfield rifle was produced in the town, and was the main firearm used by British military forces from 1895 to 1957. The name Lee-Enfield comes from the designer of the rifle’s bolt system, James Paris Lee, and the factory in which it was designed, the Royal Small Arms Factory, was in Enfield.

 

2:05 | Aron:

I don’t know any of that, no.

 

2:07 | Paul:

And that Lee-Enfield rifle ran across World War I and World War II, played a massive part in both those world wars.

 

And there are famous people born in Enfield, this is proper “who’s who”. I didn’t realise Enfield was such a… Amy Winehouse.

 

2:21 | Aron:

Yeah, I know she was from around…

 

2:23 | Paul:

Adele…

 

2:24 | Aron:

North London, around that way, yeah.

 

2:26 | Paul:

Chas and Dave, now they always portray themselves as Cockney.

 

I appreciate Enfield is kind of, it’s a borough as well as a town, isn’t it? This is from Google so it can’t be wrong.

 

Bruce Forsyth, David Jason…

 

And then to get very high-brow, two Prime Ministers: William Pitt the Elder and Benjamin Disraeli.

 

So there’s a lot of stuff going on in Enfield. Did you know any of that?

 

2:48 | Aron:

I know Amy Winehouse was born near there, and the other one, the cash machine.

 

2:55 | Paul:

So you’ve learned something today. It’s been worth the journey from London to come sit in front of a camera, to learn that, which you could have done on Google from the office, right?

 

Right, let’s get on to things.

 

3:07 | Paul:

Let’s just start with some introductions. A bit about who you are, what you do, where you’ve come from, your work careers, and how you’ve ended up at Howarth.

 

Start with you, Adrian.

 

3:19 | Adrian:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Adrian, Branch Manager of the Enfield branch. I started last year April, so it’s not been a year.

 

Aron approached me, had a good chat with him, and last April, last April, yeah.

 

I started my career in a place called Long & Somerville, which was literally probably half a mile to where I am now in Enfield.

 

And then from there I went to Battles, another small independent. Started in the yard, went through yard, serving on the counter, stock controlling, ABM, and then Branch Manager. Been a Branch Manager since I was about 26, so I’ve been about 10 years.

 

And I’ve been working at different sort of merchants as well, Jewson and all sorts.

 

4:08 | Paul:

Can we go back a little bit though and talk about your earlier story? Because obviously by your accent you’re Polish. If you’re happy to share it, it’d be really interesting to know.

 

4:15 | Adrian:

I’m originally from Poland. Came over to the UK when I was about 11 years old with my mum, dad and my sister.

 

When I came over I only knew about four words how to say in English, and I can’t say them on the podcast, they’re not very good words, honest with you.

 

4:27 | Paul:

What brought your family over?

 

4:34 | Adrian:

I think they just wanted a different life sort of thing. Pretty much back then Poland wasn’t the wealthiest country in the world, and they just came over to get probably a better life for myself and my sister.

 

4:45 | Paul:

Had one of them got a job to come over to, or literally you moved?

 

4:51 | Adrian:

So my mum and dad came over first. I was there with my grandma. They came over for about six months, and then after that my mum came over, picked us up and then brought us into the UK. Amazing.

 

And Poland came into the EU as well, so… yeah, it was fun.

 

5:04 | Paul:

How did you feel about that? Because you were 11, that’s that formative age, isn’t it?

 

5:10 | Adrian:

Yeah, yeah. If I’m honest with you, I’ve been living in the UK for about 25 years now. So the UK is like my home.

 

But when my mum came and said, “Right, we’re all going to England,” at first I was excited because I didn’t know what England was all about, to be honest with you.

 

So I was excited , and then when I came over I thought, “What are we doing here? I can’t speak English. I don’t know anything. I don’t know anyone. What are we doing here?”

 

But you know, I went to school, went to college, did my university degree, and yeah.

 

5:48 | Paul:

You’ve done really well for yourself having come across like that. Did you go straight into senior school?

 

5:54 | Adrian:

Yeah, I went to high school, Year 8. When I was in Poland, when I was 11, I started smoking. Smoked for about three months, and then I came over to UK and I had to quit because I couldn’t buy any.

 

6:06 | Paul:

Yeah.

 

6:10 | Paul:

How did you go about learning the language? So if you came with four swear words as your total vocabulary…

 

6:18 | Adrian:

Probably why I got into builders’ merchanting, can swear.

 

No, learned language at school, to be honest with you. I went to a school where there wasn’t a single Polish person, so I couldn’t really translate or anything. So I had to learn pretty much the hard way.

 

6:29 | Paul:

So you went straight into Year 8 with no English and you were expected to just pick it up?

 

6:35 | Adrian:

Yeah.

 

6:36 | Paul:

That’s crazy.

 

6:41 | Adrian:

But you know, I managed. I guess when you’re young, when you’re a kid, you pick up a lot quicker.

 

It’s like, I’ve got two girls. One is three, the other one is seven. And we only speak Polish to them. And then when they went to nursery / school, they come home and they start speaking to us in English and we’re like, “Well I don’t understand what you’re talking about, speak Polish,” because we don’t want them to forget the Polish language.

 

7:00 | Paul:

That’s good. Being bilingual is good.

 

Did it take you long to settle in at that age?

 

7:05 | Adrian:

Not really. I think I went straight into it.

 

Pretty much when I came over, I think I had to wait a week before I went to school. It was a bit hard because obviously I didn’t have that many friends back then until probably Year 9 and Year 10.

 

Pretty much after school, straight home, PlayStation, that was it really. But yeah, after the years went by, met a lot more new people, went out a lot more, and all sorts.

 

7:25 | Paul:

And then you went to college?

 

7:32 | Adrian:

College, yeah.

 

7:34 | Paul:

Do what?

 

7:34 | Adrian:

Construction management. And then I went to university to do again construction management.

 

7:40 | Paul:

Nice.

 

7:41 | Adrian:

While I was doing my university, I was looking for a part-time job. I applied for a place called Long & Somerville as a yard man. And back then I had a phone where I had to top up my card, and I think I had about 10 missed calls and about five voicemails, so I had to top up my phone to listen to the voicemails.

 

And it was one of the owners of the business saying to come over for an interview. Came over, and then there I am.

 

8:05 | Paul:

What would have been your other job options rather than builders’ merchanting, if you’d done construction at uni?

 

8:12 | Adrian:

Surveying side. Or construction management on site, being a project manager and all that sort of thing. So I was heading in that direction.

 

But then as I was doing my part-time job at builders’ merchanting, the opportunities came over, going into the office, and then ABM.

 

After a while it’s like, there’s nothing else. You know so much about it that it’s easy to get into that environment, and it’s quite hard to get out.

 

8:43 | Paul:

Did you go to uni in London?

 

8:47 | Adrian:

Yeah. East London University. I live in East London as well, so I didn’t have that too far to travel.

 

8:56 | Paul:

I wouldn’t think we’ve got many degrees in amongst our builders’ merchants, in amongst our branch managers, will we?

 

I’ve not got a degree.

 

Is England your home now, do you think?

 

9:02 | Adrian:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

 

We go to Poland probably two, three times a year. But if we’re there for too long it’s like, “Oh, we just want to go back, back to the routine.”

 

It’s nice at the beginning, you meet all the family and everything else, and it’s nice because you don’t have to go to work. But then everyone else Monday to Friday goes to work and it’s like, “Let’s just go back.”

 

So which is home now? England.

 

Poland is nice to visit, nice to meet the family and all that, but my girls go to school and everything so it’s around here.

 

9:43 | Paul:

This is why your girls have got London accents. Anyone got American accents because of the YouTube videos?

 

This is slightly random, nothing to do with builders’ merchanting, but I’m intrigued: how come you started smoking at 11?

 

9:54 | Adrian:

Just friends. Just met with friends. Probably five a day I would say.

 

10:05 | Paul:

That’s probably saved your health. Thank God they’re expensive in England.

 

Right, thank you.

 

Aron, I’ve forgotten the question now. Just introduce yourself. A bit about you, your career, where you started, where you got to, what you’re doing.

 

10:16 | Aron:

Well, I left school at 16. Went to work up in the big city of London at 16. I was working admin for an advertising company, Charlotte Street, near the West End.

 

I remember going at 16, getting on the train up London at 6:30 every day. And I’d done it for two years and it just wasn’t for me anymore.

 

I was the youngest person when I started the company, and I was the youngest person two and a half years later when I left, believe it or not.

 

So yeah, I left there about 18, 18 and a half coming up to 19. Then I got a sort of part-time job driving for my dad at Brockley for a few months, then moved over to Dartford.

 

My dad was Branch / Area Manager at the time. We’d just taken over the Dartford branch, he had three branches in the area.

 

And yeah, it was a part-time job. Still looking for a path. Still part-time, yes.

 

Every, like everyone, I fell into merchanting. I’d never planned to be in merchanting, but yeah… it’s a 20-year stay now.

 

11:18 | Paul:

What was it like working with your dad?

 

11:24 | Aron:

Fine. We get on really well.

 

People say they can’t work with their parents, but I never really found many issues. We’re pretty similar and didn’t argue a lot at all.

 

I don’t think he wanted me going into merchanting, he didn’t want me to be in merchanting. You know, “Go do that.”

 

But then many years of still not knowing what I wanted to do, and then I took the diploma and degree that was on offer, and then went through there.

 

So: came into Brockley, did a bit there, then moved to Dartford for a few years, then came back over to Brockley because it was slightly closer to home.

 

Then they needed a new manager at the time, so my dad went back into there.

 

And then, yeah, 20 years later I’m the Regional Manager of six branches.

 

12:03 | Paul:

How long were you manager at Brockley?

 

12:09 | Aron:

Brockley as a manager was about a year and a half, I suspect, year and a half to two years.

 

And then about two years at Dartford. When I was at Dartford I was Area Manager as well as Branch Manager.

 

Then after two years of Area Manager / Manager, I was then Regional Manager.

 

12:22 | Paul:

And 20 years with Howarth?

 

12:30 | Aron:

20 years with Howarth this July, I think. But I look back, bloody hell, three kids later and other bits, and you just think… yeah.

 

12:37 | Paul:

Explain about the diploma, I’d forgotten about that.

 

12:43 | Aron:

It was a BMF diploma funded by the BMF. A guy called Peter Kelly, actually, who was with us at the time, came down to the branch explaining it.

 

He said to my dad, “I think Aron will be good at this, he should go into it.”

 

Dad said, “No, it’s too early for him, he’s too young, he’s too busy going out on the weekends and won’t put the effort into it.”

 

He was like, “No, no, put him into it.”

 

So he put me in for that. It was a year and a half to two-year course, formal education.

 

It took the best part of 18 months to two years, and then the next step is the degree. Of the people who did the diploma, two of us went on to do the degree that was funded by the BMF.

 

The other ten just thought, “This is…” and stopped.

 

The degree part was only a year, because 70% of it was done in the diploma.

 

So that was a formal degree, recognised.

 

13:43 | Paul:

Did you ever think you’d do a degree?

 

13:48 | Aron:

No. No, no, no.

 

I was anti-education. Couldn’t stand school. Sporty. Getting into trouble. The other things that people who find themselves in merchanting probably don’t.

 

If you’d have said to me at 18, “Do a degree,” I’d probably have thought: no.

 

14:02 | Paul:

So what prompted you to do it then?

 

14:08 | Aron:

It was a good opportunity and it was funded by the BMF, so what’s there to lose?

 

At first I wasn’t sure, “Back into education again.” But after a few, I thought: actually I could do this, it’s not too bad. Your outlook changes. You look at it differently and go from there.

 

14:26 | Paul:

Do you think formal education’s helped you both in your careers?

 

14:31 | Adrian:

Yeah, I think so. Definitely. You think about things differently, more maturely.

 

You put effort into it. You want to get something out of it. It helps you understand the economics of business much better than being branch-based. You understand the broader implications of decisions, margins and other things.

 

Just being in that classroom away from the branch, it’s like, well actually some of these logics apply to all businesses, not just us.

 

15:15 | Paul:

Okay. Good.

 

Right, a bit of history about the South for us. Howarth started in 1840 up in Leeds. 80% of our branches are Yorkshire and Lancashire, and then we’ve got three branches down in London.

 

Do you know the background?

 

15:34 | Aron:

Mostly, not all of it, because when we opened in London it would have been before me, but I’ll give a vague history.

 

It was 1989 and they acquired a site in Brockley Cross, Southeast London, still there now.

 

At the time they were looking for someone to run it, and it was my dad. So he opened up the branch. It was a very old-school timber merchant with not a lot of stock, and it’s come a way over the next 30 years.

 

Within a few years of opening the London branch, an opportunity came up in Tottenham, so they expanded in Tottenham as well. They got a really good guy called Dick Ribbons as the manager. He was with us about 20 years, very popular with a lot of the older managers.

 

Only a few now would have known Dick, but he was a very, very good manager. He retired some years back.

 

Then it would be 20 years ago we got Dartford. So Dartford’s been there 20 years now.

 

16:43 | Paul:

So all three have basically come from your dad setting things up?

 

16:48 | Aron:

Yeah.

 

And Dartford was actually bought through a supplier rep knowing Kelvin, the manager of the business. We bought it off Kelvin, it was his business.

 

There was a guy called Clyde at CCF, sadly died in the last few months, and he said he was friends with Kelvin through Leeds and playing football.

 

He said, “Gary, Kelvin’s looking to sell his business. It’d be a really good opportunity.” And that’s how they got it. Just shows networking.

 

Kelvin’s still with us now, the rep there, 20 years later.

 

17:20 | Paul:

Go on with the story of Tottenham, because Tottenham’s eventually ended up as Enfield.

 

17:25 | Aron:

Yeah. Tottenham, like I said, Dick Ribbons was the manager for many, many years. It was a really good branch, but it was a lease branch, and as the lease came to an end the building was getting older and older and the area had changed a lot over the 20 years.

 

It became less affluent, less business. The location was never great anyway, around the back, a little bit.

 

So they decided not to renew the lease. Then we moved to a different branch in Tottenham around the corner, but it was more of a stop gap, it wasn’t ideal.

 

It looked like a good location, but for whatever reason the collections just didn’t come, the part of Tottenham it was in.

 

Then an opportunity came to move to Enfield about three years ago. It was Enfield Timber for many, many, many years, old-school timber merchant. Proper old-school. Not a lot of building materials. It had been there a long, long time, 50 to 60 years, I don’t know.

 

A company called the Timber Group took it over, part of the Southern Timber Group. They were only there a couple of years and it didn’t fit their model. They needed a bigger branch for what they wanted to do, they do a lot of bulk timbers, so they moved up to Hoddesdon.

 

Then it became vacant again, and that’s how we took on the branch from the Timber Group three years ago. And Adrian’s now the manager.

 

18:44 | Paul:

How far’s Tottenham and Enfield?

 

18:48 | Aron:

15 minutes south of the branch.

 

18:50 | Paul:

What are the challenges of operating in a big city?

 

18:57 | Aron:

Traffic is the biggest one. Example: yesterday we had that planned day out, all transport sorted, and just because of the rain and the amount of traffic we had to fail deliveries, which we had to get down today. Which affects sales and everything else.

 

Traffic is just horrendous.

 

19:41 | Adrian:

Sometimes Enfield’s alright for traffic and other times it’s just standstill, depending on the day.

 

Sometimes you plan out and the drivers are back at two o’clock, and you thought they were going to be late. Then the other day you plan out and think they’re going to be back early, they don’t come back till five. It’s just the day.

 

Customers are used to it, but we communicate. If there’s any slight issue we get our drivers to call us, “Ad, there’s an issue on the M25, I’m stuck.” Then we look at the second round and we make customers aware they might not get the delivery.

 

It’s all about communication. Customers appreciate that because then they don’t have to wait, they can do something else.

 

20:23 | Paul:

Is there a lot of other merchants close by?

 

20:23 | Adrian:

Plenty. There’s about 10 in like a three-mile radius. Everyone’s competing.

 

20:42 | Paul:

You’ll be really pleased, you’ll enjoy the challenge.

 

20:48 | Adrian:

To be honest, I’ve enjoyed the challenges.

 

When I was a branch manager at a different place, I used to drive to work in the morning and in my head I thought, “Okay I’m going to do this, this and that today.” As soon as you walk in, you’ve not done anything you planned, it’s gone out of the window. You get that.

 

You felt disappointed at first, but after a few months you realise: “I’ve not done this, I’ve not done that, but I got a five grand sale, or I did this today which is going to help in the future.”

 

You have to spin it into the positive rather than being negative, otherwise you might as well give up.

 

21:19 | Paul:

I’m assuming, like the majority of London, there’s a real mix of nationalities in the area?

 

21:25 | Adrian:

Yeah. We get a lot of Turkish, Albanian, Romanian, Polish.

 

21:31 | Paul:

Does that change how you operate? Is language an issue?

 

21:38 | Adrian:

Sometimes it’s an issue. Me being Polish, I don’t speak Turkish or Albanian, but you sort of get the gist of what they’re looking for, even if they’re speaking broken English.

 

You listen and then you go and show them, “Is this what you mean?” You take your time and show them, and they’re like, “Yeah, I need five of them.”

 

It’s good fun. Sometimes customers know they can’t speak English and they laugh about it themselves.

 

22:13 | Paul:

You’ve been through it yourself, you said when you came across at 11 all you could do was swear and smoke.

 

22:13 | Adrian:

Exactly.

 

22:26 | Paul:

Are there noticeable differences between different nationality tradesmen, needs and expectations?

 

22:32 | Adrian:

I think they all expect lower prices. No matter what price you give them, they ask for discount. That’s the language of the world.

 

But I don’t think there’s any real difference, maybe they’re not as organised as you’d like them to be.

 

22:58 | Paul:

That’s every builder.

 

23:04 | Adrian:

That’s why builders’ merchants exist. “Can you deliver today?” It’s 2:00 in the afternoon, what do you think the answer is going to be?

 

23:29 | Paul:

Have you seen change in building in London over your 20 years in the industry? Has it always been diverse?

 

23:42 | Aron:

Weird thing with London is you can go certain pockets and there’s a couple of nationalities.

 

Southeast London where Brockley is, a lot of builders around there are still English. You do get other nationalities, but Enfield is by far the most diverse place of any of our branches. English builders probably make up 20%, if that.

 

Dartford again is 80% English builders. So there are pockets, towns within cities. The dynamics are totally different. There’s no real comparing Enfield to the other two.

 

24:27 | Paul:

And those other problems, traffic and competition, has that changed over the last 20 years?

 

24:33 | Aron:

Traffic is horrendous because we’ve got a useless Mayor, and low traffic neighbourhoods they’ve put in.

 

You’ve got low traffic neighbourhoods by the branch which are nightmares for branches and businesses. You can’t approach the branch from one side now because you have to go around.

 

24:56 | Paul:

In practice, what does that mean for you?

 

25:03 | Aron:

Most businesses it impacts quite negatively. The only people who feel the benefit are people who want clean air in their neighbourhood. Most working people hate them.

 

If you slow all traffic down by 10 miles an hour it’s going to cause more traffic because everything’s slower. 30 is now 20. So you’re sitting in more traffic, which in my opinion means more pollution because engines are running longer.

 

It’s just mad.

 

And you’ve got ULEZ as well, certain vehicles. If you had an older lorry and you’re driving into ULEZ, you can pay 200 pound a day. We don’t do that, our vehicles are up to the standard, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to deliver into London at all.

 

So the main impact is it congests everything, slows everything down. Days take longer. You can do fewer deliveries.

 

And honestly, there are more cars on the road now than 20 years ago. People are just paying more. It’s not having the effect on the amount of cars.

 

A lot of working people see it as another tax. A lot of people born in London don’t live in London anymore, moved out to coastal towns, Kent and Essex. They couldn’t stand the traffic and the way London is now.

 

27:26 | Paul:

So you’ve got loads of competition. How do you set yourself apart?

 

27:33 | Adrian:

You have to take care of your customers, price, service, and communication. You need all three together.

 

You can price a job one day, and they’re like, “Yeah okay, I’m placing an order.” Next day they come in with a competitor quote, “Can you beat those prices?” Same product. Everyone’s competing, especially in the market now, you have to fight for every order.

 

And you have to have the stock available, because no one wants to wait anymore.

 

28:08 | Paul:

You took over last April, so about nine months. What changes have you made?

 

28:24 | Adrian:

First thing I did was put lights in the shop, because only about 25% of the lights worked. I started in April when the days were longer, so imagine what it was like when it got dark. So I said the first thing we need to do is fit new lights so people can actually see what they’re buying.

 

Since then we’ve introduced about 700 different product lines into the shop and yard, from different ranges of silicones to screws to everything else.

 

Pretty much every day a customer comes in asking, “Have you got this or that?” If not, it goes on the list, because next time someone comes in I want to have it.

 

It might not have increased the amount of people coming in, but it’s increased the spend, basket size is bigger, and that leads to bigger footfall longer term.

 

Especially in communities like Turkish and Albanians, they talk to each other. “Where do you get your materials?” “Go down to Howarth, they always look after me, they’ve got a good range.”

 

So it’s been about fixing the basics that weren’t right.

 

29:56 | Paul:

Is it easy to recruit?

 

29:56 | Aron:

Hard. Hard. Terrible.

 

We’ve had roles on for going on five months with four agencies before and not found anyone. Certain roles are very, very difficult.

 

30:14 | Paul:

Why is recruitment harder and harder?

 

30:19 | Adrian:

I think the younger generation want big nice offices where they can make themselves coffee, free lunch and everything else. That’s what’s in their head.

 

Builders’ merchanting isn’t that, it’s the complete opposite. That’s why it’s hard to get that generation into merchanting.

 

I think it’s going to be harder and harder to recruit across the industry.

 

Maybe people try different things and it doesn’t work out, and then they come across merchanting and think, “Actually I enjoy this environment.” It’s not for everyone.

 

My wife works in one of the big offices, I tell her things that happen in the branch, and she says she’d never be able to say that or do that in her office.

 

31:35 | Paul:

If you had to score the branch out of 10 when you started, one being horrific, ten being amazing, what would you have scored it?

 

31:43 | Adrian:

Probably a five. It wasn’t too bad because we’ve got people with 20, 30, 40 years’ knowledge, so the knowledge was there. Materials weren’t too bad. Good range, but it had to improve.

 

People in the office were great as well. There were one or two staff issues, but you look into that.

 

32:16 | Paul:

And where are you now?

 

32:21 | Adrian:

Probably an eight.

 

32:28 | Paul:

That’s a good improvement in months, with issues out of your control.

 

32:35 | Adrian:

Yeah, definitely. You can see it in the league table. When I started, first three or four months we were always at the bottom, and then we started moving up, so something must be improving.

 

32:53 | Paul:

If I was a customer, why would I come to Howarth Enfield?

 

32:59 | Adrian:

Knowledge, people have a lot of knowledge. Customer service. Every customer that comes in is a potential sale.

 

Speak to them with a smile. No matter what. If you’ve had a bad morning, say it and someone else serves them with a smile.

 

Have a joke, have a laugh. People like that, they know they’ll be looked after. We do our best to accommodate their needs.

 

33:36 | Paul:

Where have you learned that, the importance of customer service?

 

33:42 | Adrian:

Different merchants I’ve worked at. You learn something new every day.

 

When I took over a branch at Jewson, it was quite low in the league table in sales. Within the year we were like third in the league table in sales.

 

It’s speaking to every customer, providing the service they expect, at the right price. That’s what they’re looking for.

 

You can let down a customer, but as long as you communicate. “Our lorry’s broken down, we might not get the delivery out today, can we do it tomorrow first thing?” Nine out of ten times they’re fine.

 

34:31 | Paul:

An old boss years ago told me: always work on the principle of “no surprises”. If you’re struggling, tell me, don’t surprise me. I’ve always tried to live by that.

 

34:49 | Adrian:

No surprises, yeah, exactly.

 

34:55 | Paul:

What will you be focusing on next 12–18 months?

 

35:13 | Adrian:

More sales, getting footfall through the door. That’s the priority.

 

We’ve hired another external sales rep, luckily for us he used to work for a competitor locally, he knows a lot of customers. He’s out and about daily.

 

Me and my ABM go out as well, sites, chats. We’ve got quite a few customers that are now regulars.

 

A lot of people say, “I’ve driven past your branch every day, never tried you.” So we say, “Come in and try us.”

 

Transport is always busy, but Enfield is harder than Dartford and Brockley because of the roads. The two main roads in are always busy.

 

36:50 | Paul:

Sometimes you get an email from Aron or Nick saying your transport numbers aren’t like up North, and you read that and you’re like, “I know that… but there’s not much I can do.”

 

37:09 | Aron:

Yeah. You take it on board, but there’s only so much you can change. You can’t remove the traffic out of London.

 

37:28 | Paul:

So it’s about small wins, keep grinding away at what works.

 

37:39 | Adrian:

Exactly. Price, service, communication. No magic answers.

 

37:52 | Paul:

I’m going to start wrapping up and go back to you two as individuals.

 

Adrian, proudest moment of your career so far?

 

38:07 | Adrian:

Knowing that I can take any place, I’m confident that no matter what state the branch is in, I might not turn it around in six months or a year, but I know in my head I’ll achieve the goal of turning it around.

 

I’ve done it before, and now I’m doing the same thing again and it’s working, it’s showing progress.

 

38:33 | Paul:

Do you think that mentality comes from your early years moving to England?

 

38:39 | Adrian:

Maybe. If you can move country, not speak the language, and end up in university within five years, you can do anything.

 

Support helps as well. I’ve got full backing of Aron. Anyone in head office, I ring them and I know they’ll help.

 

Even when I get home my wife asks how my day was and she gives me points, and sometimes you’re like… no matter what you do…

 

39:16 | Paul:

No matter what you do, women all know.

 

39:21 | Paul:

Aron, biggest mistake you’ve made and lessons learned?

 

39:27 | Aron:

I don’t really look back on things as a mistake or regrets. Things happen, you move on, you learn from them and go forward. I’m not big on all that.

 

39:38 | Paul:

Okay, forget “biggest mistake”. Tell us about a lesson you learned from something that didn’t go well.

 

39:48 | Aron:

Over 20 years it’s hard to pinpoint. Probably should have took it more seriously when I was younger.

 

I started really young, going out drinking every weekend and everything else. Would I have got where I am sooner? I don’t know.

 

But I don’t sit there thinking about it too much. I don’t really regret many things.

 

The world’s a strange place with fate, lots of doors. There will always be things you could have done better, but I just move on.

 

I say to managers: best thing is get it sorted, learn from it, move on. Don’t dwell, when you dwell you compound the mistake.

 

40:44 | Paul:

Anything else you want to talk about Enfield?

 

40:51 | Aron:

It’s progress, it’s a project.

 

I remember going in there before I started just to have a look around, and I thought straight away: we need to do this, this and that.

 

We’re slowly doing what we need to do. Good thing is the team wants to do well, that’s the main thing.

 

41:09 | Paul:

Are you happy with where you’ve got to in nine months?

 

41:14 | Adrian:

Yeah. Definitely.

 

41:20 | Aron:

He’s on track. I don’t know how long it’s going to take, but every month it’s progress, the branch is heading in the right direction.

 

Adrian’s 100% the man to take it forward. He’ll do everything within his control, and the branch’s control, to keep moving it forward.

 

Then the things out of your control, economy, interest rates, if they improve, that’ll have the biggest effect. That affects every merchant, not just Enfield.

 

But everything you do in the meantime helps when it turns.

 

42:04 | Paul:

You’re setting the framework out, keep doing the good things.

 

Right, we’re going to wrap up. Four more questions each. We finish every podcast with these quickfire questions, first answers, short and sharp, don’t overthink.

 

Favourite part of your job?

 

42:21 | Aron:

The diversity. Every day’s different. You can plan it out and then it goes out of the window, but then you get that little win when someone comes in and spends two, three, five grand, and you’re like, “Yeah, it’s been a good day.”

 

Meeting new people, seeing different people. I’m lucky I don’t see the same people every day, different branches on different days. It’s quite nice.

 

And you set your own destiny.

 

43:11 | Paul:

Most difficult part of your job?

 

43:11 | Aron:

Traffic, M25.

 

I could spend eight hours sometimes in the car if I’m going to the Midlands branches. But it’s fine, I’m used to it. I listen to a lot of podcasts.

 

43:36 | Paul:

Adrian, most difficult part of your job?

 

43:43 | Adrian:

You become like a mental health person for the branch. People come to you with different issues. Sometimes in your head you think, “It’s not an issue, you’re making it an issue.”

 

But you have to stay professional. “Let’s do it this way or that way” to resolve it.

 

And you’ve got 100 emails, and Aron on the phone waiting for something, you haven’t got the time, but you have to do it.

 

44:01 | Paul:

Is that just the way of the world now?

 

44:06 | Adrian:

I think so. Everyone comes with problems, which is fine. If it’s a real problem you understand, but if it’s something very small and they make it big, you think, “I haven’t got the time,” but you do it.

 

44:30 | Paul:

Aron, most crucial trait someone needs to possess to do your role?

 

44:37 | Aron:

Calmness. You get many different things thrown at you in a day, and calmness allows you to make a better decision.

 

And consistency. You’ve got more than one branch, you’ve got to have a consistent approach. Clear messaging is important. If I give a message at one branch, it has to be the same for the others, otherwise you get, “Well you told him this, but…” That’s difficult sometimes, because you go to six different places and you need to make sure the messaging is the same across it all.

 

45:20 | Paul:

Calmness and consistency, you won’t go far wrong.

 

45:34 | Paul:

Adrian, most crucial trait for your role?

 

45:34 | Adrian:

I agree with Aron, but I’d add communication. You need to communicate, not only with customers, but staff members. Build relationships.

 

If you build relationships with head office people, you’re more likely to get a quicker response. So communication and building relationships.

 

46:03 | Paul:

Best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

 

46:10 | Aron:

When I started I had a managing director who supported my progression. He told me: never talk to anyone about your wages. Don’t talk about what you earn. Keep it to yourself.

 

If someone tells you what they earn, keep it quiet, that’s down to them. But it creates problems in the future.

 

That’s the advice I remembered and I’ve never spoken about it to anyone.

 

46:44 | Paul:

Aron, your dad must’ve been wise. Nick, Jack, others, you’ve had lots of advice. Anything else that sticks?

 

47:03 | Aron:

One good bit that sticks is: never get too high in the good times, or too low in the bad times. That links to calmness.

 

There will be good times, there will be bad times, but you remain on track and focused. In this industry it’s cyclical, you don’t know how long each period will last.

 

47:33 | Paul:

Excellent, and that’s a wrap.

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you both for coming. You are the guests who have travelled the furthest, so we’ll get you a medal. We’ll get you a train ticket back.

 

Thanks for coming up. I do appreciate it. It’s good to see you up here. Well done on what you’re doing. I think you’ve got some good plans in place, keep up with that.

 

And to our viewers and listeners: thank you for joining us again. I hope you’ve enjoyed it.

 

Another episode will be out in a couple of weeks’ time. You can watch and listen to us on all the normal channels, YouTube, Spotify, Apple.

 

If you have enjoyed it, it would be great if you could like and subscribe, leave us a review. And if you don’t want to do that, if you could just share what we’re doing with anybody you think might be interested, that would be much appreciated from us.

 

Thanks again for joining us. We’ll see you again in a couple of weeks. Goodbye.

 

48:25 | [Outro / count-in]

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