Les Littlewood, Sales Director, Albion Valves UK attributes twenty years in the industry to traditional values…

Commitment to their distributors has been at the heart of Albion’s business model since opening their doors in South Yorkshire twenty years ago. Today, maintaining excellent distributor relations is still a focal point in their strategic approach, and one that continues to contribute to their ongoing growth.

Albion was set up with the sole purpose of supplying quality products at an affordable price, to independent pipework distributors and engineering merchants throughout the UK. Today, their network of distributors is more important to their operations than ever. Simply, when distribution is good, business is good.

Les Littlewood, Sales Director at Albion commented:

‘This is a people business and we run on traditional values. At Albion it is the dynamics of personalities and good relations that drives business, rather than optimizing search engines or collecting ‘likes’ and ‘followers’.

‘New media certainly has its place and works for many organisations, and we do embrace new technology where relevant. However, it is our core traditional values of quality and reliability that are integral to Albion’s culture, and that makes our wheels of commerce turn.

‘People buy from people. We endeavour to go that extra mile for customers, not because it says so in our brochures or is it written on the website, but because it is a way of life.’

In recent years Albion has become increasingly recognized as an established brand, providing customers with a trusted alternative to premium priced products.This position as a ‘challenger’ brand has found favour with their distributor network resulting in Albion increasingly gaining ground in the marketplace.

In addition, the manufacturing ‘status quo’ in the UK’s commercial valve industry has also leveled the playing field. Today, almost all valves are manufactured in the Far East meaning that contactors can compare ‘like with like’.

Les commented: ‘We have always been transparent regarding the manufacture of our valves, which are devised in the UK and made in either Italy or China. All our products, which are sourced from quality manufacturers, meet our own exacting standards and have the necessary approvals for gas and water applications where required.

We have developed products hand-in-hand with customers, ensuring they get exactly what they need, and much of our product range has emerged as a direct response to customer requirements. We ensure our distributors always have the best choice available to them, and carry a stock of over 5000 products to which they have full access.’

With choice and quality as standard, Albion endeavours to support distributors and boost their bottom line through marketing.

Les added: ‘As a team we have thought long and hard about how to deliver a marketing campaign, that would drive business directly to our distributor network. So, the brief to our advertising agency was to create a campaign that would both boost the Albion brand name and communicate the product’s USPs, but direct potential customers straight to our distributors for purchase.’

Similarly, Albion’s online presence is very much a reference tool designed as a product information portal to be used by their distributor network, rather than a vehicle to place orders.

This has been a successful strategy, in that marketing activity has stimulated interest for the brand through advertising and targeted publicity, which ultimately translates in orders for distributors.

Albion
Tel: 01226 729900
www.albionvalvesuk.com

Published: 6th March 2014