National Deal – No Sub Stockists……GAP Power of One Model Sweeps Through Sector
Three more of the UK’s leading house builders have signalled their support for vertically integrated materials sourcing with a switch away from multiple roofline supply partners to GAP’s Power of One model.
In September, Taylor Wimpey committed exclusively to GAP for three more years and the following month Persimmon moved its entire roofline supply contract to GAP in a ground-breaking new two-year solus agreement. In early November Redrow handed the GAP Nationals team joint responsibility for its PVC-U fascia, soffit and ancillaries supply.
As well as the three major players, GAP’s end-to-end manufacturing, logistics and 112-Depot distribution system is already the building materials source of choice for Lovell Homes, Miller Homes and Keepmoat.
Paul Sowerby, GAP’s Director of Group Sales & Marketing said:
“It’s all very exciting but let’s face it – we’ve all seen this movie before. Ikea grows wood in its own Baltic forests, Shell and BP extract, refine and retail fuel that starts life in their own oilfields, and Zara can launch a new clothing range in three weeks instead of the nine-month norm because it makes pretty much everything itself.
“For house builders, the chance to engage quickly and effortlessly with every stage of the supply chain via a single point of contact is obviously important, but the big difference is the commercial transparency and financial clarity that come with it.
“Gone are the days when pricing needs to be distorted by complex, bewildering and time-consuming contract support and rebate schemes. And in a modern, competitive trading climate when relationships and mutual trust have never been so success-critical, it’s just not good enough to expect professional buying teams to negotiate with a manufacturer and then be told that their day-to-day operational dealings must be with a random mish-mash of sub-stockists.
“As a Board, we felt it was time to demystify the whole process and give buyers what they say they most want. One negotiation. One brand. One fixed price. One point of contact. And one simple invoice.”
Following the cash acquisition of the SIG Building Plastics and SIG Windows businesses in August 2017, Blackburn-based GAP became the UK’s largest distributor of PVC-U roofline, cladding and trim products to the UK’s new home building sector.
Taylor Wimpey’s Divisional Head of Group Procurement & Supply Chain Nick Dyke said:
“Following a full market review in 2014, Taylor Wimpey selected General All-purpose Plastics (GAP) for our Roofline products. Being a nationwide, truly multi-sited house building company with 24+ Business Units nationally, and a Central Distribution hub in Newmarket – key for us was to ensure that all our delivery points were adequately catered for as well as a no-nonsense approach to trading . Working in partnership with GAP has facilitated this coverage. In addition, we enjoy simple net pricing with no complex and time consuming retrospective rebates, a full scheduling service and trouble free invoicing – together with a fully enabled UK wide network of wholly owned distribution points. GAP has quickly become one of our top tier providers who consistently rank highly in our performance monitoring programme.”
The 24 year-old GAP group’s National Deal – No Sub Stockists mantra is underpinned by its vast manufacturing centres in Blackburn and South Wales, by its 190-vehicle logistics fleet, and by its truly national network of Depots that provide coverage from Inverness to the Isle of Wight.
As well as bringing clarity and consistency to negotiations and transactions, much of the success of GAP’s dedicated Nationals teams has stemmed from its investment in processes designed to make life easier for local site teams and their management, as GAP Nationals Sales Director Dave Tingle added.
“Power of One is so much more than just a fancy slogan. It’s become a way of life. It means as much to our estimators and schedulers as it does to our plot management and call-off teams. It’s also the focus of major investment. The £1.5m spent on technology to give buyers total visibility and traceability of all current and past orders, for example, is as important as new tools such as electronic proof of delivery that we’ve introduced to save customers’ site teams costly and frustrating administration challenges further down the line.”
