Three guiding principles set pioneering wholesaler and distributor Brymec apart from its competitors:
• A focus on remaining the go-to supplier to the building services sector, for the widest range of mechanical & plumbing, air conditioning and fixing components.
• An association with excellence (we supply only the best products in each sector).
• A deep commitment to offering the highest possible levels of customer service.
Brymec offers a range of unique selling points to its customers, including:
• Next day delivery for all orders placed before 5pm.
• Delivery network offering flexibility to tailor delivery requirements to individual customer needs
• Own transport team who liaise closely with customers
• Same day delivery for orders placed before 10am within the M25.
• A commitment to ensuring that they maintain high stock levels in line with customer requirements
• Entire product range available to order across multiple channels including online.
• A well-trained, knowledgeable, helpful and friendly UK-based customer service team.
• A dedicated account manager devoted to each individual customer.
• An intuitive website packed with features to help customers.
Customer service
Brymec aims to deliver exceptional customer service by partnering with them. So, in its customer charter, the company promises to:
• Act quickly: It is committed to consistently answering customer calls within 15 seconds, respond to all queries/enquiries within 30 minutes, and provide a quote within two hours.
• Keep customers in the loop: It promises to keep customers up to date with orders and the services it provides.
• Be accountable: If things go wrong, Brymec will do everything in its power to get customers up and running again.
• Be sincere and open: The company is committed to honesty and transparency in all its dealings, both internally and with customers.
• Continuously improve: Actively seeking customer feedback on its services gives Brymec an opportunity to improve how it does business.
Training
Brymec’s ability to deliver quality customer service hinges upon how well-trained and experienced the team is. The company designed its own Brymec customer service accredited training programme and awards a digital certification though the ‘open badge’ academy on completion. The Brymec customer service training programme improves communication, listening, problem solving and questioning skills. Training the team on the same set of competencies gives them a standard process to interact with our customers and has created a real team spirit. We have seen the quality of customer service provision improve with an increase in customer satisfaction, retention and loyalty. The customer service training and our continued investment of embedding new skills, has seen the team increase their ability to resolve issues, addressing concerns at the first point of contact, which greatly increases customer satisfaction and leaves customers feeling appreciated and respected. This appreciation is critical to our company’s success as it is the basis for repeat custom and loyalty.
Net Promoter Score (NPS) – a management tool that can be used to gauge the loyalty of a firm’s customer relationships – produced an industry NPS score of 39 in 2016, but Brymec achieved a score of 69 in their most recent customer survey in June 2017. We are so confident of our customer service that we are currently applying for the government’s Customer Service Excellence award.
Website
Brymec is at the cutting edge of new technology with its industry-leading website relaunched in August 2017 (see Appendix 3). This enables customers to search, find and order products or create quotes whenever and wherever it suits them. This means our customers can effectively order from Brymec 24/7 365 days a year, at their own convenience. The website allows Brymec customers to open a tailored account. So they have full control to be able to set up their online account to fit their business. They can use as many or as few features as they need, seamlessly across any electronic device. Features include:
• Customers can view their tailored pricing, receive bespoke offers and search for products.
• An enhanced search function and live chat.
• Images are included with product descriptions to help with quick identification and selection.
• Create favourite lists to save time with repeat orders. • Save time by ordering or quoting direct from a list.
• Set up lists.
• Generate tender quotes.
See Appendix 3 for a full list of the website’s features and benefits.
Branches and locations
Brymec’s head office is in Coulsdon, Surrey. The business also has two distribution centres in Gatwick; sales offices in central London, Gloucester and Edinburgh; and a customer service centre of excellence in Belfast.
Stockholding
Brymec has more than 14,000 products in stock ready for next day delivery direct to site, many of them WRAS-approved. Its all-inclusive range includes metal and plastic pipework systems and insulation, pumps, heating components; air conditioning accessories such as refrigerant, condensate removal equipment and ductwork; and fixings and supports such as pipe mounting, cutting and drilling tools, the unique GasTrac gas cylinder tracking system and fire stop products. Every product stocked by Brymec is premium quality and sourced only from the best suppliers. The value of stockholding is around £3.6million. A full list of Brymec’s comprehensive product range is provided in Appendix 1 at the end of this entry.
Technical support
As well as training its entire customer-facing team on its extensive range of products which means that they are perfectly positioned to offer the very best technical support to customers (see ‘Training’ above) Brymec also maintains a strong business relationship with key suppliers. This means if there is ever a question raised by a customer that may not have been included in the training, then Brymec can consult manufacturers for further immediate support. For example, Brymec is able to call upon the manufacturers of the products we stock to come to the UK, if they are based abroad, and run technical support sessions on-site personally for customers.
Helping others
Brymec believes in looking for opportunities to actively help others. In 2016, the company founded the Brymec Foundation, the primary focus of which is funding the building of wells in Eastern Africa to provide a sustainable source of clean water. The Foundation is firmly on track to fund the construction of its first well this year. Throughout the year, Brymec also gives to other charitable causes including British Red Cross, Barnardos, The Salvation Army, school charities and British Heart Foundation, to name but a few.
Summary of why Brymec deserves to win the HVR Wholesaler/Distributor Award:
• Our customers can rely on us for world-class service (our NPS score is well above the national industry average), outstanding product availability, highly competitive pricing and swift and accurate delivery.
• We have a planned strategy to succeed in a fiercely competitive industry.
• We are committed to treating our customers, suppliers and employees with honesty, respect, fairness, trustworthiness and openness which reflect the founding values of Brymec.
• We have a compelling product offering at a value-for-money price.
• We are at the cutting edge in terms of technological developments.
• Our service is second to none – we offer unbeatable delivery performance. See customer testimonials in Appendix 4.
• We strive to excel in every aspect of our business, adding value wherever and whenever we can.
• Over 96% of items delivered On Time In Full (OTIF)
APPENDIX 1: Products stocked by Brymec • Mechanical and plumbing • Metal pipework systems • Plastic pipework systems • Valves and brassware • Pipe insulation • Waste and drainage • Pumps • Heating components • Tools & accessories Air conditioning • Copper tube, insulation and accessories • Refrigerant • Condensate removal • Electrical cable, isolators, spurs, cable glands, trunking, connectors and accessories • Ductwork • Tools and maintenance • Mounting equipment Fixings and supports • Support systems • Tooling • Pipe mounting • Site setup and safety • Cutting and drilling • Unit mounting and support • Fixings • Fire stop products
APPENDIX 2: Brymec Environmental Policy We are committed to preventing pollution and to complying with all relevant environmental legislation, regulations and other environmental requirements. We will regularly evaluate the environmental impact of our activities, products and services and we will take action to continually improve our environmental performance. It is our policy to: (a) Minimise the use of energy, water and natural resources. (b) Minimise waste through prevention, re-use and recycling where possible. (c) Dispose of waste safely and legally. (d) Avoid the use of hazardous materials, where practical. (e) Work with environmentally responsible suppliers. (f) Prevent environmental damage and minimise nuisance factors such as noise and air pollution. We will define environmental objectives, targets and improvement actions that are related to this policy and to our significant environmental aspects. We will regularly evaluate progress. We are committed to providing relevant environmental training and promoting environmental awareness to employees and, where appropriate, to suppliers and to communicating our environmental performance. We will implement processes to prevent environmental nonconformities and to ensure that we are prepared to deal with potential environmental emergencies. This policy will be regularly reviewed and updated to take account of organisational priorities and changes, environmental legislation and best practice.
APPENDIX 3: Website attributes Our intuitive and easy to use website is the open-24/7, responsive customer tool. It also provides a tailored account/supplier solution through: • Tendering • Accounts and reporting • Quoting • Procurement • Ordering • Tracking • Account information • Control • Pricing • Quantities • Requisitions Searches are easily refined by filtering by product categories, brands and dimensions to help with the selection process. Other features include the ability to: • Produce quick reference groups of products. • Search for products and create an order from scratch. • Quickly convert an Excel list of products and codes to an online order with our simple upload tool. • Automate email confirmation once an order has been and processed. • Track orders online and provide proof of delivery (POD). • Manage the company account. • Search orders, invoices and POD. • Pay invoices online. • Set up purchasing structure and teams in the account area allowing customers to delegate authority to team members to raise requisitions and/or place orders. • Customers can manage their own call off orders
APPENDIX 4: Customer testimonials
“You are the best supplier I have come across. You delivered something wrong the other day, but you sorted it efficiently and quickly – I would recommend you to any contractors. I am also going to speak to the general manager to see if we can use Brymec for everything as your service saves so much time and hassle.” P & H firm – Contracts manager
“We recently did a project which required a very fast turnaround – I would like to thank Brymec for making this possible with the way you provided us with same-day deliveries and prefabricated materials.” Large electrical contractor – manager
“The Exo range of products you supply is excellent and has saved me much time and money.” Air conditioning contractor – business owner
“I enjoy doing business with Brymec and this will continue because your service is very reliable and mostly your prices are competitive as well.” P & H contractor “Brymec are my preferred supplier due to your reliable on-time deliveries.” Air conditioning contractor – contracts manager
“All my site guys love using you as you have clear extensive catalogues – so they can choose exactly what they want without any confusion.” Air conditioning contractor – contracts manager
“We are pleased to say that Brymec are our preferred supplier for our various contracts, both local and further afield around Scotland. We find their service… to be reliable and organised with arrivals on time. The greatest asset of Brymec is their ‘one-stop shop’ for all our needs, with prices to match. This saves our engineers both time and expense visiting other suppliers.” Large air conditioning and refrigeration company – office manager
“I can place an order at 4pm and receive it on-site before 8am the next morning – you can’t get much better than that!” M&E contractor – site manager
“We have decided to nominate Brymec as our preferred supplier due to the reliable service and quality of the products. We made the mistake of picking up some pipe and fittings from another supplier when we in a hurry a few weeks ago and it was poor quality. We are not going to make that mistake again!” P & H contractor – business owner