I’m sorry it’s been such a long time since I wrote. I have been back from our antipodean trip for quite some time now, actually (I won’t bore you with all the details apart from saying New Zealand was spectacular – go, if you can!) – but I have been out and about a great deal, mostly on the road calling on our many, valued independent retail customers.
That’s my priority this year – to get out there and meet as many of our key customers as possible and find out more about what you like about our products and services and what you’d like to see improved. I think the proper phrase for it is “Conducting Business Reviews”. And I believe they are best done face to face.
I also attended Wiemann’s sales conference for the whole company and all its international subsidiaries and distributors in Rotterdam – a fascinating few days. It was very gratifying to see that the UK is still Number Two export market for Wiemann by a long way – that’s a position of which we are very proud! Head office also shares with us lots of facts and figures and statistics (some of their own; some more generic ones from international market research agencies like GfK) which gave me a fascinating insight into market trends on colours, styles and ranges – which I’ll be sharing with customers on my visits over the coming weeks.
Talking of what’s selling, we’ve noticed quite an upsurge in interest in Luxor recently (in both the light ash and golden maple finishes). It won’t surprise you to hear Luxor is regarded widely as the Number One overhead bridging unit in the whole of Europe. It’s pretty popular here in the UK, too – and I like to think the increase in sales is maybe a small sign that the marketplace is perking up a little bit. Perhaps when Spring finally decides to spring, we’ll notice even more.
We’re doing our bit to keep up the interest too. Our ‘Request a Brochure’ button on the website is pretty popular too. Don’t forget our comprehensive new brochure is now available – which you can get either from your area agent or from Martina at our Goole UK admin offices (martina.mceleavey@wiemann-online.com or tel 01405 760661.)