Kew Electrical is celebrating winning a best wholesaler award in the Electrical Wholesaler Awards for the third year running.
The independent wholesaler walked away from the awards ceremony at the London Lancaster Hotel with the trophy for Best Electrical Wholesaler with 6-25 Branches.
Operations director Nik Mulcahy says: “In 2015 when we won all three national awards, in the back of my mind I was thinking, ‘the planets were aligned and luck is on our side’. But we went on and retained the award in 2016 and then scored the hat-trick this year.”
Kew has bought a trophy cabinet to accommodate its haul – one with ‘a little bit of room left…’
The company did not retain the award by sitting on its laurels. “Every year there’s slightly enhanced scrutiny,” says Nik.
“There have been different criteria, but we’ve always had something new to say because we are a growing company. For a lot of companies, the years just merge into one – it’s the same old, same old.”
Nik credits Kew’s continued success to three factors: Loyal knowledgeable staff, stock availability, and accessibility through trade counters and the delivery network.
At Kew’s core, however, is its local company ethos. “It’s all about local staff knowledge, local accessibility and keeping it simple,” says Nik. “We don’t overburden our staff with reporting and processes, and we keep it as straightforward as we can.”
At present, the company has 320 staff in 23 branches, predominantly in the south of England. It will soon open a branch in Gloucester, and as it expands it is battling the large company mentality. “Our strength is local knowledge and local businesses,” comments Nik.
Outside the core business, Kew has opened key account offices across the country to serve larger contractors, and there is a cash sales business that includes the Postcode Privilege Club, which gives discounts to local companies.
Nik concludes: “We are expanding into unknown territory, geographically, where they won’t have heard of Kew Electrical. So, you can do your sales pitch and say how great you are, but if you can also say you’ve won these national awards for three years running, it gives you credibility.”
