Widget gets too big for its roots
Distributor set to open second warehouse in Stevenage and plans to move to bigger premises in Eindhoven as business booms
Retail-focused VAD Widget is soon to receive the keys to a larger UK warehouse up the road from its existing premises, to keep up with the increasing demands of its customers.
The firm’s Eindhoven-based Dutch subsidiary Now Mobile BV is also on a growth path, having seen business grow 300 per cent in the past year and set to double again in 2014.
Mark Needham, chairman of Widget, said business across both geographies was heading northwards. “Our Dutch team has moved twice already, and it is a lot easier to sort out business premises over there. What is driving growth over there is the fact we have managed to sell into a number of big retailers in Benelux and have a growing range of products in these countries that expand our reach. Export now accounts for 15 per cent of our turnover, and it is growing all the time.”
Needham said sorting out a bigger site in Stevenage has taken slightly longer, due to the length of time the property market takes to complete transactions, but explained the bigger site will make a huge difference to business.
“First of all it gives us more space for our existing products, but it also means we have more space for direct dispatch, which a number of our online retailers are asking us to do. The other thing is that it gives us more space to ‘rework’ orders – a lot of sales are in bundles or part of a special offering, and it means we can repackage and re-sticker products in accordance with orders.”
He added that the distributor was in full growth mode, and is also recruiting staff.
“We are not taking on huge numbers of people, but we have taken on a new salesperson and one in accounts, and are still recruiting,” he said. “We are adding new product lines as well, so there is definitely a lot going on. The economy is certainly more positive, we saw the retail market begin to pick up around the tail end of last year and this year has been very strong too.”