2024 end of year round up
It has been a busy and successful year at Harrison & Clough, with us overcoming some challenging market conditions as well as difficult external factors to deliver growth and our usual high levels of customer service. Here we take a look at what we have planned for the business as we progress forward into 2025…
A year of growth
As we build on our strong foundations and dominant position in the UK, we have made a series of strategic appointments to further develop all aspects of the Harrison & Clough business:
Malcolm Becker, who returned to the company after a brief stint away, is building on the 28 years of experience he has within Harrison & Clough in his new position of National Development Manager. In this role, Malcolm leverages his vast experience and contacts to strengthen customer relationships and further develop the company’s product lines.
To support Malcolm in this new role, and to help deliver our ambitions to further grow our presence across the North of England, two experienced members of our Internal Development Team have taken up new positions. Rachel Harper and Sophie Davies have been appointed External Area Sales Managers for the North West and the North East respectively, and we’re excited by their expertise and enthusiasm bolstering our position across the North.
With more than a decade of experience in the fastener and fixing industry, Matthew Aubrey was appointed as Area Sales Manager for the West Midlands and Wales. Starting his career in a family-run engineering merchant, working in picking, packing and delivering, he soon moved into sales, and along the way has won prestigious industry awards such as the Platinum Sales Award by Troy UK.
Another key sales appointment was Adam Shaw, who took up the role of Area Sales Manager for the East Midlands and East Anglia. With an academic background in engineering, Adam started his career in the fixing and fastener industry within packaging, later advancing to roles in quality control and merchandising. His passion for sales and helping customers is boosting our presence in his region.
At the time of their appointments, Mark Dorrington, Business Development Director explained, “Each of these talented individuals bring something unique to the table, and together, they represent a strong future for Harrison & Clough. As we continue to expand our operations and strengthen our relationships with customers across the UK, we are more confident than ever in our ability as leaders of the fastener and fixing industry.”
Speaking of Mark Dorrington, we were delighted when Mark recently became part of the Admin group at BIAFD. Harrison & Clough is a longstanding member of BIAFD, British & Irish Association of Fastener Distributors, which stands as a cornerstone in the fastener distribution industry, representing British fastener distributors for seventy years and counting. For us at Harrison & Clough, having a presence within BIAFD’s admin group is a significant milestone. As a Yorkshire-based distributor, our involvement within BIAFD further underscores our brand’s integrity and position as thought leaders in the industry.
Expanded product range
We recently announced new additions to our range of high-quality fastening solutions including new Socket Cap Screws, Socket Dome Screws and Full Nuts – and the new ranges are all showcased in our 200 page Fastener Solutions brochure. The products form part of the MetalMate range and bring exceptional strength, durability, and easy use to any application. The new range includes GEOMET® 500 - our ultra-high grade socket cap screw specifically developed for critical fasteners with an integral lubricant coating to assist in consistent tightening performance.
We also launched a wider range of Socket Cap Screws, now available in multiple sizes and lengths, offering superior strength, clamping and fatigue resistance. The new Socket Dome Screws are used in assembling parts that require high strength and durability in applications such as automotive, machinery and equipment, electronics, construction and aerospace. All ranges feature in our new brochure.
All of these products can be browsed and purchased through the Harrison & Clough website, which was transformed earlier in the year to better meet the needs of our customers. Our online sales have since shifted from 6% to 25% of our business as a result, and we were also delighted to be named the winner of ‘Webshop of the Year’ at this year’s Torque Magazine Awards!
More technology…
In addition to the implementation of our new website, during the summer we also moved to a new ERP, Business Central. This move offers huge benefits across all stakeholders with the primary focus being improved efficiencies and enhanced support to our most valuable assets; our customers, our team here at Harrison & Clough and our supply chain.
Securing our supply chain
On the subject of supply chain, despite the volatile environment created by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, at Harrison & Clough we have proactively managed our supply chain to mitigate risks against both current and future challenges. By holding higher levels of stock in our warehouses, we were able to give our customers some protection against shortages and throughout the year we also maintained our next day delivery pledges. More widely, we have taken the following steps to achieve consistency and reliability across our supply chain:
Market Analysis:
We’ve used data analytics to predict future trends in fastener demand and supply. This has allowed us to make informed decisions and stay ahead of potential shortages.
Strong Supplier Relationships:
Having been in the industry for over 100 years, we have built strong relationships and reliable partnerships with our suppliers to help ensure a steady supply of products.
Leveraging Technology:
With the likes of AI and machine learning at our fingertips, we have jumped at the opportunity to explore and invest in new technology that can help improve inventory management and supply chain efficiency.
Employee Training and Development:
Maintaining a skilled work force is crucial to navigating supply chain challenges. At H&C, we invest in regular training and development for our employees, right from our apprentices to senior members of our team, to ensure everyone is well-equipped to handle complex supply chain scenarios.
Looking Ahead
As we look towards and plan for 2025, we’re optimistic that the structural and strategic changes we’ve implemented this year will continue to enhance our performance. While current economic circumstances continue to present the country with a challenging climate, and questions remain of whether inflationary pressures are actually ceding, our focus as always will be on delivering value to our customers, even when price is a challenge.
In addition to further building our sales team, our focus in the year ahead will be to continue the new product development that has been a huge success this year, and further establish our recently launched new products. We will be providing increased technical support across our product range, and there will be important extensions too, notably multiple ETA MasonMate ranges, which will be coming soon.
We will seek to provide industry expertise by supporting our customers through the ever-changing, and sometimes complex, legislative environment, with the introduction of CBAM representing the biggest challenge on the horizon for industry. By knowledge-sharing we will ensure our partners are as prepared as possible for implementing necessary changes, and that their businesses remain robust when adapting to new legislation in this sector.
And finally, we have exciting news to share….in 2025 Harrison & Clough will be migrating all operations over to a new base, in Bessemer Park, Sheffield, which will be a significant benefit to current and future customers, as well as all of our team. The new state-of-the-art warehouse is a 137,000 sq ft facility, which boasts the latest Autostore systems, and will introduce significant efficiencies into all elements of the Harrison & Clough business, and assist in us meeting our sustainability goals by vastly reducing our carbon footprint. The facility will also encompass some of our sister companies from other Dormole Group brands, and we will use this to our advantage and to the benefit of our customers as we leverage this network to develop our business in new markets and forge exciting relationships with suppliers and customers alike.
We thank all of our customers, partners and colleagues for a successful year, and we look forward to building on this year’s growth and positivity as we move into 2025.