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CROSSHIRE: VIBRANT SHOWCASE DEDICATED TO OUR INDUSTRY Communication with our customers and suppliers is the lifeblood of our industry. We all prosper if we can offer modern, safe and well-maintained equipment to the market - a market that well-informed industry experts believe is now worth £5 billion annually. We cannot hope to offer a modern and well-sourced fleet, be it 100% power tools or a mix of small and large heavy metal, if we are not kept up to date with both legislation and technical innovation. The primary source of information on legislation and its effects should come from our trade associations; whereas the latest products, introduced in response to this legislation, should be presented to us by manufacturers or their distributors. There is evidence to support the argument that many suppliers are now content to pitch their products to the handful of ‘big guns’ whose buying power represents a large chunk of the market. Like many smaller independents, I have noticed a fall in the number of visits to my business by heavyweight sales people. Some do not call at all; others try the alternative of e-mail or telesales. Worst of all are those who provide their hot line ‘access me day or night mobile’ numbers to ‘star’ customers, while the likes of you and I are faced with electronic option switchboards that eventually land us at the mercy of a bored youth who promises to pass on a message or put a leaflet in the post! The Head Honcho of a well-known tool supplier told me he was content that, as long as he sold his kit to the likes of GAP, HSS and Speedy, smaller outfits like mine would soon see his products in their catalogues and select them. This attitude does not deserve support and it is pleasing that there still are many creditable suppliers out there wanting to do business with smaller independents. GET OFF OUR BACKSIDES I sympathise with many suppliers, especially those with smaller niche products. It costs mega bucks to put product in front of prospects and a small family manufacturer cannot afford the promotional budgets of the likes of Bosch, Terex or JCB. Hirers, big and small, need a vibrant market place. If budgets preclude our suppliers from visiting us in the style of the old fashioned commercial traveller, we as an industry have got to get off our backsides and support our suppliers by attending as many conferences, seminars and exhibitions as we can. So far this year, the much improved SED - complete with weather to die for - was not as well attended by hire buyers as in previous years. Furthermore, the HAE Conference is now a mere shadow of its former self and resembles a Liberal Party conference of the late 1970s where only the faithful and press-ganged pad out the proceedings. Indeed, I can remember these events when so many people attended, it was a case of standing room only. We were told by the organisers of the recent Construct Equip at ExCel in London that this was THE show for the south east - no problem in that, SED has moved further north and the Executive Hire Show in Coventry may be perceived as too far for those hirers south of the Thames. The ExCel event had a lot of kit outside and flashy stands inside, but, apparently, you guys in the south east did not share the view because visitors, quite simply, did not turn up. Many I have spoken to believe that our industry is ‘over-showed.’ Smaller outfits, with tight staff levels and expense constraints, will only turn out for a show or conference if they are reasonably certain that they will benefit by increasing their industry knowledge or buying power. This is a team effort and £5 billion-worth of hire potential demands that we all support our trade associations and exhibitions. Both the Executive Hire Show and SED are places where serious business is done and new ideas are on show. The next opportunity to see a really packed and vibrant showcase, dedicated solely to our industry in the UK, is at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry next February. Your suppliers will be there, your trade associations will be there. If you have a view, a gripe or, praise be, a contribution to this debate, do turn out. You know it makes sense. Executive Hire News › Archives › November 2007 › Crosshire › Vibrant Showcase Dedicated to our Industry
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