In the past few years National Plastics, the UK’s largest independent trade counter network, has become a byword for a one stop shop. And stocking such a wide range of products in its stores has paid dividends for the company. Managing Director Geoff Foster says, “The business has grown substantially over the last few years and in the last five years alone we have added £10 million to our turnover. Some of this is thanks to acquisitions and opening new sites, but it’s mainly because we have increased sales to our customers by offering an ever-wider range of products, holding huge amounts of stock and being able to deliver.”

The success of the National Plastics approach is clearly demonstrated in the increase in turnover: an increase of £10 million in five years in the midst of a severe recession is an impressive achievement. But despite the success, the company has no plans to rest on its laurels. In fact, the company has big plans for expansion in the next few years. The company has 31 stores at the moment and has plans to increase that to 50 by the end of 2017.

Geoff says there are two reasons for the company’s success: the size of the range and the customer-focused approach. He says, “All our customers are very time-pressured. Our aim is to reduce that pressure as much as possible by stocking as broad a range of products as we can. It means our customers need to go to fewer places for their supplies, saving them time and making their lives easier. What makes us different is we back up our product range with good quality customer support that values every single person who comes into store, orders online or calls our phone line.”

It’s a simple formula that’s notoriously difficult to get right. But as one of the industry’s success stories, National Plastics proves it can be done. And the plans to open a further 19 stores by the end of 2017 means that many more traders will be able to benefit from this simple, customer-focused approach.