Wholesale supplier TIMco held its first conference last month. Torque reports on the hot topics from the meeting...
Family-run business tells Torque that it has always prioritised two key areas, the importance of establishing and maintaining good relationships and providing quality and reliable products to their customer base.
With this approach in mind, in May TIMco held its first conference to bring a selection of its customers together to share best practice as well as examine the latest developments and opportunities in the industry.
The conference took place over two days at its head office in Cheshire and included a full itinerary of guest speakers, a walkabout of its new facilities as well as a networking event with industry peers and members of the TIMco team.
Simon Midwood, Managing Director of TIMco, who opened the conference commented: “Being a family-run business, we have always valued our relationships with colleagues and customers and strive to keep everyone engaged and motivated, but importantly to support them in any way we can.
“This approach was behind our rationale for hosting a conference, which helped bring people together to exchange industry insights and news as well as explore ways in which independents can challenge national operators in their regions. It was also a social occasion that allowed us to simply show our appreciation for their custom over the years.”
By organising and hosting the conference TIMco aimed to give its clients the tools needed to help take on some of the national organisations
that may be operating in their local areas, by providing some valuable insights into topics relevant to the industry such as marketing, logistics and people management.
The conference was well attended with nearly 150 representatives of merchants and fixing suppliers from across the country. Midwood kicked off the session by sharing some market research and interesting insights into the UK market place as well as the opportunities and threats that the independents faced.
Other highlights included a presentation from marketing expert Grant Leboff of Sticky Marketing Club. As the author of Sales Therapy and Sticky Marketing, he gave an excellent insight into how independent operators can better market themselves to take on some of the bigger national operators.
Other presentations were made by Elaine Kerr of logistics business DPD and James Timpson from the Timpson Group who gave
a valuable overview of their people management techniques and their unique ‘upside down management system’.
Chris Haywood of NMBS closed the conference with a recap of the day and a summary of the UK market. He also took the opportunity
to share his views on the benefits that can be achieved by closer cooperation and working together.
As with any such gathering of industry experts, there was also the social side; Some beer tasting of Cheshire’s finest ales, dinners
and networking opportunities whether in the magnificent TIMco marquee or the enchanting Peckforton Castle.
Midwood concludes: “We are delighted that the first TIMco conference was such a success and that so many of our customers took the time to get involved and to share their thoughts and experiences.We hope everyone enjoyed it as much as we did and we look forward making the occasion a regular event on all our calendars.”
The next TIMco conference is being scheduled for 2018 and is expected to be bigger and, once again, bring together independent merchants and fixing specialists to help build successful partnerships that enable them to better take on the growing competition from national operators.
This article was first published in Torque Magazine.