NE Wholesale Pushing Ahead with Strategic Plan

Sales and marketing manager Ben Darcy comments that “the reason we have a rolling three-year plan is to ensure we continue to strategically develop our business whilst managing any associated risks. Our plan is designed to ensure we remain committed to the development of the business regardless of market conditions. Not all opportunities have to be high cost and we have observed other tyre distributors using the market conditions as a reason to do nothing.”

Darcy added that doing nothing is just not in the NE Wholesale ethos, “We have made a conscious choice to maximise the opportunity the current economic climate brings, for NE Wholesale this means an improvement in service and a reduction in cost of products to the customer.” This point of view is shown by NE Wholesale’s two most recent developments, a 15,000 square foot warehouse in Sheffield and a brand new £2 million development in Leeds. “The new warehouses will allow us to develop our stock in line with market conditions. We remain committed to stocking all the leading premium brands and intend to develop our value brand proposition in line with market conditions. All this means a much improved service offer to our customers.” The wholesaler believes it has proven over the last ten years that it can meet its vision, which is to offer the best service in the industry at the lowest costs while maintaining its strong company values. The new Sheffield warehouse opened in July 2009 and a November opening is planned for Leeds. Darcy explained that these additions to the NE Wholesale distribution network helped support both its own and GroupTyre strategic goals: “We are very proud of the fact that our new distribution points mean that 80 per cent of our customer base now have access to our one hour Rapid Response delivery.

This “best in industry” service level is a benchmark we set ourselves because it is a proven formula that wins our customers sales.” When asked how the additional warehouses deliver customer benefits, Ben commented; “Warehouse storage capacity is critical to both our own and our customers success. To offer the variety of choice and multiple same day deliveries requires space, structured storage and highly efficient operations. This has become increasingly important in the recession with the end consumer expecting higher quality service, with a lower price tag. Our increased warehousing space will allow us to store a portfolio of products that are available on a just in time basis that allow us to deliver exactly what the customer expects for less.”

The family founded company states that it operates according to the same ethos as it did 30 years ago, namely to offer great value along with an excellent service. “Without this strong ethos, the company wouldn’t be where it is today,” adds Darcy. “No matter the circumstances, at NE Wholesale we strive to remain committed to our core values of honesty, decency, fairness and the delivery of truly excellent service. No matter what the situation, whether that be employee training or customer service, our values are principles that we are dedicated to maintain.” Many businesses in the market have found themselves doing very little or nothing at all to drive them through these tough economic conditions. NE Wholesale believes that spending this amount of money and channelling this level of dedication into new projects like these shows the company is continuing to work hard to remain ahead of the game.