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With Noel’s gift for business the company rapidly became successful and was soon expanding. By 1970 larger premises were needed to meet the demand from buyers who valued the products and service Noel Kegg offered. It was also during this time that they became a preferred supplier to companies such as Caterpillar, Honeywell and Philips.
Still the company continued to grow and in 1974 moved to the 22,000 square foot 3 storey warehouse it occupies today, located in Hamilton, Lanarkshire. More staff were employed, some of whom are still with the company today, ensuring customers can benefit from a genuine wealth of experience and know-how. It was soon after this that the company’s range expanded further with the addition of Black & Decker’s professional range of power tools to the choice of stock it offered its customers. Over the years major tool brands such as Dewalt, Makita and Bosch were added to meet the growing demand from Noel Kegg’s expanding customer base.
In 1984 Noel became national president of The British Hardware Federation (BHF).
For a company like Noel Kegg Ltd, thriving on offering its customers a good selection of products, combined with a high level of service and rapid delivery, being part of a buying group was the next logical step. In 1997 they joined THS Tools after speaking to many company representatives who all thought that THS was the best. Calum Kegg, who is now Managing Director of the company believes joining THS was one of the best business moves they ever made: “THS has provided us with the platform we require to grow our business, offer our customers more and to compete with the bigger players on a level playing field.” Calum points out this also means that the company has access to a wider variety of goods, making it easier to sell more to our existing customers by being able to offer them a “one stop shop”
When they joined THS they added Personal Protective Equipment to their product offering. Nowadays PPE is a major part of its business and accounts for a remarkable 30% of turnover, reflecting Noel Kegg Ltd’s real gift for spotting what the market is going to need and providing it. “At this time a local PPE specialist relocated from Hamilton to Aberdeen which presented us with an opportunity. Most of our customers were buying PPE from them and wanted to keep buying products locally. THS made this decision easy as it had done the hard work for us by identifying the brand leaders and negotiating prices on our behalf” says Calum.
Another clever business move was to introduce garment printing alongside the PPE in 2001. Most stock items can be offered with a name and logo next day. The company use a computerised system which means they don’t have to impose a minimum quantity or set up charge on buyers and the quality of the print is so good it will outlive the working life of the garment. They can print small orders while the customer waits which has had knock on benefits as well. Staff at Noel Kegg have noticed how customers will browse while waiting for an item to be printed, often leading them to make additional purchases either on the day, or returning in the knowledge that they have seen what they want at the store. In January 2007 a brand new larger printing room was built by converting a garage at the back of the building.
In 2000 Noel Kegg stepped down as Managing Director, handing over to Calum, his son. Calum had previously worked in banking, but his business knowledge was learned from his fathers enthusiasm and basic business principles which he constantly drummed into him. He claims that ‘years of brainwashing from my dad finally paid dividends when I took over.’ This would certainly appear to be the case, with the company as successful as ever as he continues with the company’s policy of delivering on time, offering value and investing in stock. The company has a range of over 10,000 stock products which it can supply nationwide next day.
It is no surprise that the company’s customers remain highly satisfied and loyal to Noel Kegg Ltd. The company has a positive atmosphere that includes both staff and customers. Of the sixteen full time staff six have been with the company for over twenty years and ten have only ever worked there. In turn this continuity helps grow customer confidence and loyalty even further.
Noel Kegg Ltd continues to expand and at the beginning of 2006 installed a brand new goods lift, opening up the top floor of the building for much needed added storage space. Noel himself came in to oversee the lift installation, having spent a few months preparing the top floor with racking and introducing new location codes which has improved efficiency to their storage facilities.
They are very proud to have been awarded the THS Member of the year in 2006 and the staff with their families have all been rewarded for their hard work by celebrating with an action packed weekend break in Crieff Hydro for their efforts.
The company are continually looking for ways to improve, having recently upgraded its showroom with new display stands, resurfaced the yard at the side of the building to create a customer car park and installing three 40 foot containers to store bulky, non perishable products. A fork lift truck has just been delivered to help make the goods in and despatch departments run more smoothly.
In addition they are working on and developing 2 new websites, a corporate information site www.noelkegg.com and an e-commerce site www.toolstop.co.uk which are scheduled to be launched in April 2007.
With a proper management structure now in place and each area of the business split into teams, Noel Kegg Limited are making use of new technology and are well positioned to maintain their current business and take advantage of new opportunities.
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Airstream Communications