Pricecheck is aiming for its brand management arm to contribute towards 50% of business growth leading up to 2026, as part of a plan for the wholesaler to double its turnover to £200m in the same period.
Speaking to Better Wholesaling, joint managing directors Debbie Harrison and Mark Lythe, as well as commercial director Darren Goldney revealed how the building on relationships in the form of contractual agreements with brand owners is the main area for growth. “We aim to represent brands and do everything for them in certain parts of their business,” said Goldney. “This already contributes to 15% of our business but we can see it contributing to 50% of our growth by 2026. And to do that we’ve put the systems in place. We have the people capable of it and now we’ve put them through an academy programme so they’re able to fully account manage brands.”
Read more: Pricecheck launches HFSS guide for customer base
The brand management forms part of a new ‘supplier services menu’, explained Harrison. “We have always offered a range of services but never laid them out for suppliers to see in a clear and concise way. This supplier services menu will now give our suppliers a clear idea of what we can offer and they’ll be able to pick specifically the services that fit their needs.”
The Sheffield-based company previously achieved its target of £100m turnover by 2020 and has now outlined the next stage of its growth, with an extension of the wholesaler’s Amazon and B2C capabilities also part of the five-year strategy. Pricecheck offers full-service management within the frameworks of Amazon’s fast-paced sales structure and recently added to its e-commerce team as part of this growth.
Read more: Pricecheck appoints human relations director
“We’re also looking to expand in the area of white space in which we manage both new categories and new locations through our segmented customer base. For example, this could be the food and drink element of a fashion store,” Goldney explained.
“Words can be cheap but actions can be tough to demonstrate,” said Harrison. “But here we have heavily invested over the past 18 months, and this has included growing our number of staff from 200 to 300 over the Covid period. This includes a business change team, which is a new emerging area which has been created specifically to help us grow.”
Lythe added how Pricecheck has also invested heavily in a new warehouse management system as well as putting the infrastructure in place for small pick services within the warehouse, on top of purchases of electric forklifts and LED lighting.
“The capability of a supplier sales force built on the efficiency of a wholesaler is what we’re aiming for and if you can do those two things you earn the right to be a truly valued partner,” concluded Goldney.
