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A visit by Brian Hall, Editor
The company has earned itself a name for excellence with local businesses small and large alike, based on its philosophy that the customer comes first and that its staff will do everything possible to meet the customers' requirements.
Scarborough Fixings And Tool Hire has been going for 25 years since it was started by two men who remain at the heart of the business today, Steve Hamblett and Paul Helliwell.
The original set up was certainly basic; situated on the ground floor of a building that had previously been a fruit shop. Because of limited space and funds customers would select the products they wanted from pictures displayed on the walls.
Even from these humble beginnings the company soon earned itself a strong following amongst a customer base that valued the high levels of service and attention they knew they would get from Scarborough Fixings and Tool Hire. As a result the business was able to move into its current premises, and ever since it has been growing and expanding into all the available space, displaying an increasing and impressive range of tools and supplies.
About 5 years ago Steve and Paul were joined by a new business partner, Adam Nicholson having recently purchased another local business, which was centred around engineering supplies. Adam was brought in to the business initially to run the engineering supplies side, but also with a view to moving into the running of the whole of the business.
The newly purchased business was run as a separate entity for over a year and then it was fully merged with Scarborough Fixings and Toolhire .
Buying the new business and Adam joining the company combined with another leap forward in the form of Membership of THS buying group. The business was already doing well, but from that point it went from strength to strength particularly because it was able to take advantage of the benefits that being part of the THS buying group brings, not least the flexibility it enables Scarborough to bring to its customers. Because to the company the essence of what it does is to offer a very good service.
Often customers phone the shop needing items within an hour, possibly less, and Scarborough Fixing and Tool Hire's solid reputation is partly based on making every endeavour to meet these requests. Also when an item isn't in stock the company undertakes to deliver it the next day, if at all possible.
The company also offers a nationwide delivery service, which they operate primarily to meet the needs of local Scarborough sub-contractors who are at work in other parts of country. However it remains focused on customers based in its area. The partners point out that it is not a business that goes chasing work that's situated outside of that area in order to maximize service locally.
As with so many companies that have built a solid business foundation on delivering excellent levels of service the recruitment of staff who can meet that standard is essential. Scarborough Fixing and Tool Hire owes a great deal of its success to a great, well motivated, staff, who are able to serve customers with knowledge and friendliness, ensuring the shop is the kind of place customers will value and revisit.
Customers coming to the shop will meet the two women who work the counter, Pauline Slater and Lauren Hamblett, both of whom personify the company's ethos of friendly, helpful and knowledgeable service. Overseeing the day to day running of the business is manager Richard Whitman, while Richard Ward fills the role of storeman and delivery driver, Jo Revett, who handles the company's accounts, completes the team.
Membership of THS means the company can offer customers products, both from stock, or to order in for the next day from brands such as Draper, Harrison and Clough, G&J Hall, Gedore, all the major brands of power tools, in fact the list is almost endless. This means not only can Scarborough meet customer demand, they can also try out new ranges and move into new areas.
About a year ago the company added Festool products to the lines it stocks. The brand was unknown in the locality Scarborough serves and choosing to stock it demonstrates the company's commitment not just to meeting demand, but anticipating it by having the widest choice and the best possible products available to its customers. The Festool range has proven a winner for the company enabling it to gain new customers in the joinery firms in its area.
Membership of THS means the company has access to every major brand, with Makita and Metabo stands prominent amongst the powertool displays in the shop, together with Bosch, DeWalt, Hitachi, and Ryobi.
The Hardman range from Harrison and Clough has been another popular line because it provides good quality without being too expensive, the range's strong image helps.
Unsurprisingly the company stocks a massive range of hand tools and also ironmongery aimed at meeting every need. Brands stocked include all the best and most popular names such as Silverline, Abingdon King Dick, Stanley, and at the highest quality end of the market, Gedore as well as Union, Yale, ERA and Briton products.
An extensive selection of Draper products is especially evident in the hand tools section, delivering a superb choice for customers wanting value and quality.
Other prominent ranges in the store include the Weldability range for welding, and the Rhodius brand for cutting and grinding discs.
Scarborough Fixings And Tool Hire's two Biggest suppliers are Harrison and Clough and Toolbank, the flexibility that these companies bring has proven a great asset to the business as meeting customer demand is such a key element of its success. Having the ability to supply customers with virtually any product next day and having a really good range to pick from gives a real strength to the business and makes it truly competitive.
A major section of Scarborough Fixings And Tool Hire's customer base is in the construction sector, though its biggest single accounts are in the area of maintenance.
The company is always looking for new areas, and its excellent reputation means customers come from many different trades. The fastest growing sector currently is structural steelworkers, who most often need equipment to kit out vans, so the company has seen sales rise of products such as welding consumables and general handtools and safety gear as well.
Like many tool retailers the company has found there is a significant interest in add-on sales, especially clothing. In the last year the company has added the Snickers brand to its stock, and it has proved very popular, two other clothing brands Dickies and Tuskers, are also consistently good sellers. The company has found that younger builders are quite conscious of what they actually put on to go to work in, and so have met this need resulting in improved sales and happy customers.
Knowing what the customer wants, and also what they will need, combined with excellent levels of service has always been the formula for success for tool companies. It's a formula that Scarborough Fixings and Tool Hire seem to have perfected.
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