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Investment in new premises, increased inventory and its people, to drive brand innovation and place customer service at the heart of the business.
Birkdale Sales, the UK’s leading wholesale supplier of gate and fencing accessories, is embarking on a major new investment programme in its brand, products, premises and people.
Managing Director,John Abernethie, stated: “2017 was a challenging year in terms of logistics for Birkdale. However, with the benefits of the investments now in place, Birkdale is able to offer industry leading products and service once again.”
Integral to Birkdale’s plans is the appointment of a new Commercial Director, David Beattie, who has joined the business with over 20 years’ experience in supply chain management. Beattie brings with him a strong reputation in business transformation having worked with Jewson and Wolseley for many years in a senior leadership capacity. His new role encompasses the entire end-to-end logistics process from product development to procurement, warehousing and delivery.
The new distribution centre has already proven to be a big step forward for Birkdale, enabling it to triple capacity and centralise operations. The new centre has enabled the business to invest over £1 million in additional stock which is currently running at 99.1% stock availability, the highest level the business has achieved since its foundation over 20 years ago.
In addition, Birkdale has been investing heavily in product development with the introduction of over 350 new products this year in its 2018/19 catalogue.
“As part of the investment programme underway the business took a long, hard look at what it was supplying to the market and the decision was taken to focus on our core purpose. The business was established to make the lives of those working in the fencing industry easier. As a result of an extensive review of our product ranges we have launched a host of new products such as our Sitemate tools and fixings range, specifically designed and sourced for the fencing industry. This has been backed up with heavy investment in patents and registered designs to protect our intellectual property,” Beattie added.
Abernethie concluded: “Our core customer is the merchant or the larger fencing contractor who has an overwhelming need for certainty in the supply chain and consistency in the product; and those businesses and individuals are at the heart of our thinking. The investments we are making today are delivering real innovation to create products that make fencing contractors’ lives easier.
