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PVR Direct was founded in 2001 by husband and wife team Paul and Viv Rooker after working for more than 13 years in the fastenings supply industry, where Paul was an Operations Director and Viv a Sales Representative. They now distribute a wide range of industrial supplies from their distribution centre in the South West of England, Bristol.
PVR supply many industries including manufacturing, construction, engineering and automotive sectors, PVR also supplies schools, universities care homes and DIY enthusiasts.
Very soon after founding PVR, Paul and Viv purchased the business of Fred Males est 1945 who were founder members of the prestigious THS buying group. At this time Fred Males specialized in abrasives but Paul had ambitions to widen the product range and he was not prejudiced about what they would sell. At the time of acquisition Paul & Viv were delighted that the membership was transferred to PVR and are now extremely proud of being member no. 1 of THS.
Paul’s motto is “All we do is say Yes!”
He told me that he has been astounded by the opportunities presented by THS membership. “With so many products to promote how could anyone fail?” Paul is one of the most optimistic and direct people I have met in the trade and he has many ambitions for his business.
PVR supply many companies on a ‘just in time basis’ where product is delivered direct to line. Customers are looking to source the ‘One Stop Shop’ which PVR are happy to oblige. This naturally increases its product portfolio and the company has had contracts supplying everything from cotton wool to plasterboard - just about as far removed from Tools & Fixings as you can get, but as Paul explains it’s all about selling boxes, it really does not matter what’s inside.
Paul is very forthright about attitudes to sales success. He says “Just knock on doors, there is always something to sell!” To those who are unhappy about the trade his message is ‘get off your arses, it is out there!’ By thinking outside the box, Paul has a different approach to most tool related retailers. PVR doesn’t have a serious trade counter and doesn’t stock power tools.
In recent years he has been on the look out for new premises to open a Trade Counter but is finding freehold premises in Bristol very few and far between. To this day premises have not been forthcoming so Paul decided to invest in a new robust impressive website.
The interest in the website and internet trading stems from Paul’s dissertation on web trading for his Masters degree in Business Studies from the University West Of England.
Paul says “I had a vision about widening the appeal and offering a direct service and this has been made possible by investing in the internet.”
Paul is optimistic about the future despite his knowledge that traditional customer bases are getting smaller.
He says “We have to try to be a systems company and need to put procedures in place to ensure that anyone can work with the infrastructure. Business is mainly about setting up systems and maintaining them so that staffing can be made interchangeable and exceptional deliveries maintained.”
If you want it they’ve got it! PVR have literally thousands of products in stock ready for immediate despatch. If the company don’t have an item in stock then it can almost guarantee to source the right product, at the right price at the right time.
More products! The New Year will see PVR introduce more products on-line and to its growing customer base. Paul said “None of this could be achieved without having great staff, good suppliers and of course not forgetting our very supportive customers.”
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Airstream Communications