CT p26-28 Profile Dec08.qxp 20/11/2008 15:55 Page 26
UIforwardBusiness BuildingUIback UIbackSLD (Scotland) Ltd
Excellence comes
as standard
UIfastforward SLD (Scotland) recently won Wholesaler of the Year at the
SELECT/CABLEtalk Awards. Georgia Love caught up with Stevie Murdie to
find out more about the secrets of the company’s success.
The first thing that strikes the prudent to take a change of 150 of them a month.
visitor when they approach the direction. Interestingly 40% of his business
trade counter of SLD (Scotland), is “Our clients now range from the goes down south, and 50% of that
how immaculately tidy it is. What really large ones like Carillion, who 40% goes to the London area.
they don’t see is that this extends will spend hundreds of thousands Presumably they have specialist
beyond the public area and into the a year with us, to perhaps a small lamp wholesalers in England, so
warehouse itself, where stock is hotelier who is maybe spending why do they buy from SLD? Stevie
stored in an admirably ship-shape £200-300 a year. That’s the kind says: “They know they can rely on
fashion. And it’s true to say that of vast range that our accounts us to deliver promptly. We have a
the dynamic and charismatic cover.” carrier system which means if we
Branch Manager Stevie Murdie Stevie explains that SLD get the order in by 3.30pm, we can
runs a very tight ship at the currently has in excess of 300 guarantee delivery anywhere in the
premises in Glasgow’s West End. accounts on the books. And on UK next morning. So it makes no UIdownStevie
Part of Edmundson Electrical, average they will deal with around difference to them in terms of Murdie.
this particular branch has been
running for twelve years and
recently moved into new extended
premises – right next door to the
original.
Under Stevie’s stewardship the
company has grown steadily from
turning over £200,000 when it
started trading, to this year’s
projected £2m.
As Stevie explains, shifting £2m
worth of lamps is a big job,
because intrinsically it’s a low
value commodity. He’s achieved
this with a winning combination of
shrewdness, a fierce market
intelligence, and an enlightened
approach to staff management.
He says: “When we started, our
aim was to deal with television
studios, audio visual installations
and the like. But then I thought
that there wasn’t enough business
in that area in Scotland We
couldn’t have survived catering for
that market alone and I felt it was
26UIbackUIforwardCABLEtalk • December 2008
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