Dear Customer,
Bradfords’ mission: ‘help people build’ has many connotations. During the early stages of the pandemic this meant offering a source for the products and materials which self-employed trades needed to keep working. Now, national, and global situations mean that our role to help people build is as important as ever, but that focus must be on looking at the broader context to ensure that we are enabling building beyond just the supply of materials. Below is a brief update on the key topics that we are looking at to make sure that we can support you, our customers, and the wider Southwest community as best we can.
INFLATION AND STOCK AVAILABILITY
Inflation does continue, albeit at a slower rate. Energy surcharges have been added by some suppliers as fuel and utility prices have reached all-time highs. Timber also continues to rise as the Ukrainian war is having an impact on previous supply from Russia and Belarus. There are short term concerns on the new outbreak of COVID in China and the component issue this will have on power tools, appliances and boilers. However, nothing has been confirmed yet. We continue to demand transparency from our suppliers on any increases and are working hard with them to minimise these as far as possible. Our buying teams monitor the global context to identify and predict where we expect supply challenges next and are working hard to mitigate.
We continue to hold record levels of stock and our availability is now back to pre-pandemic levels. We are holding £8 million more stock on the ground to ensure we have what you want when you need it. We are also working closely with our suppliers with forward orders placed to ensure continuity of supply in the months ahead. Help us to help you by letting us know your material needs as far ahead as you can.
We have grown our online product offer especially in power tools, garden buildings and on-site storage. We have just taken on a 20,000 sq ft distribution centre to ensure we hold massive stocks and ranges of Makita, DeWalt, Bosch and Paslode power tools and accessories. Goods held in our distribution centre are available for next day delivery, ordered before 4pm.
NUTRIENT NEUTRALITY
Reports from our developer customers and various high-profile commentaries in the press on the continued stalemate surrounding the issue of nutrient neutrality provide the evidence that there is still some way to go before we see Natural England and government agree on longer term solutions to this issue. We are aware of the delicate state this leaves developers in in those catchment areas where conservation areas have been identified as being in poor condition.
We continue to lobby government and associated authorities via both the local Nitrates and Phosphates Strategy Group and the Builders’ Merchants Federation to identify solutions to the moratorium on planning. We are also working with our suppliers to understand what solutions they may be able to bring to the table. We await the latest DEFRA consultation with anticipation. Now a national issue, we understand that this is taking higher priority on government agenda, and we expect more merchants to join the lobbying in due course to help drive resolution to this issue. We anticipate that the eventual solution will be a ‘toilet tax’, but frustratingly there remains some resistance to this by government and Natural England.
BUILDING REGULATIONS
June sees the implementation of the uplift to building regulations part L, F and S. At Bradfords we are making sure that we understand the implications of these changes and putting in place solutions to ensure that you can easily meet the requirements. Talk to our teams about some of the innovative products that we have brought in to support achieving the energy and heat conservation performance criteria for part L, the solutions we offer with regard to ventilation, and our EV charging offering from Rolec. It is worth noting that regulations in accordance with BS7671 change in July for domestic EV chargers, and Rolec’s products are all compliant. We want to make sure you don’t get caught out, and that your customers’ projects are futureproofed.
NEW BRADFORDS.CO.UK
On Monday 25th April we launched our new website, a revamped, turbo charged www.Bradfords.co.uk with new functionality, speed and look and feel. We have also launched a mobile version which can be saved to your desktop – on your mobile or laptop and operates in the same way as an APP. You will need to log back into the new website and once done you will have access to all the new features and benefits. A major improvement is that Bradvantage is now on the same site so you can see you spend and track your points accordingly.
Other functionality includes:
- Toolhire - you can now hire all the range via the site
- Quick ordering - our new quick order feature allows you to add products to their basket within seconds! You can even upload a list of product codes and quantities and the system will automatically create a basket for you.
- Project lists - easily build, store and reorder specific lists of products for single use or for reoccurring projects.
- Company structure - the new and improved My Bradfords Trade Portal allows you to easily build a company structure. You can create teams and allocate different levels of access to each user. From approving orders to read only documents, you can customise your account to work for your business needs.
- Ways to pay - our new website has a range of payment methods, from credit for trade accounts through to Apple Pay, we have all the latest technology to make the shopping experience as smooth as possible.
THE BRADFORDS SERVICE
We have record levels of trained staff in the branches and have increased our focus on customer service and have developed a few key initiatives to improve the service we offer.
- Click and collect – 30 minutes for shop product and within an hour for all other products. Please do utilise this service via our website today.
- We have increased our delivered capacity across our branch estate to ensure we can get materials to your site when you need them. We are currently operating a same day or next day delivery across most of our sites.
- We will advise via you via SMS or email that your delivery or collection is picked in full and a delivery/collection slot time will be confirmed.
Thank you for your continued support.
Kind regards
David Young
CEO