R H Hall Food Solutions : Wholesale Focus Catering Insight June 2018

Wholesale Focus, Catering Insight - June 2018

Please attribute any comments to Kris Brearley, Sales Director, R H Hall

Can you offer UK dealers discounts on your imported brands – if so, how does your discount structure operate?
We have a full trade discount structure in place for all Exclusive Brands, available to our Nationwide network of approved dealers. Our easy to use Distributor Price List shows List and Trade prices for all of our best selling brands and is available only to validated trade dealers. We also work closely with a network of ‘Key Distributor Accounts’ throughout the UK. By reaching various criteria including taking stock of our Exclusive Brands, these dealers can achieve additional discounts. For more details on joining our Approved Dealer Network or on our ‘Key Distributor Account’ scheme, please contact our Sales Team or your ASM.

Do you think wholesalers/suppliers in general have to work on tighter margins than manufacturers which supply directly to the UK?
Wholesalers can often have to work on very tight margins in order to ensure a margin remains for their dealer. Many manufacturers are now willing to offer direct terms to a wide range of customers, including web companies who are often selling to end users. This, in turn, can mean that very aggressive pricing can be obtained online by the customer, with little margin left for the distributor. In order to provide their dealer with a competitive price, a wholesaler will often have no choice but to eat into their own margins. However, many manufacturers do now seem to be going back to basics and addressing this ‘issue’ by reviewing the criteria that their direct accounts meet (Gram are a great recent example of this), as some offer no real knowledge of the product and little or no after sales service. This can have a very negative impact on the brand and importantly delivers a poor customer experience.

What are the benefits to distributors of using suppliers/wholesalers rather than manufacturers?
A good wholesaler should be able to offer many benefits that a manufacturer cannot necessarily provide. Generally, wholesalers will provide a wide range of industry brands, meaning that they are knowledgeable and can offer unbiased, independent advice in many areas of Foodservice Equipment, whereas a manufacturer may specialise in just one. This also enables most wholesalers to provide a ‘one stop shop’solution – allowing dealers to consolidate their purchasing needs, saving time and often money.

What support do you offer your distributor network?

R H Hall offers support to our Approved Dealer Network in a number of ways, including:
- Access to over 10,000 foodservice equipment products, from all leading brands
- Dedicated, unbiased and knowledgeable internal and external sales teams
- Dedicated and knowledgeable customer service support for all products supplied
- Over £2M+ stockholding commitment for Nationwide Next Day Delivery
- National Marketing and Advertising for all Exclusive Brands – investing upwards of £200,000 a year!
- Approved Dealer Lead scheme for all end-user enquiries
- State of the art website including product information, online distributor purchasing and more
- Annual ‘Caterer’s Encyclopaedia’ catalogue and Trade Exclusive price list
- Quarterly exclusive Trade Only promotions and newsletters
- Impartial advice and industry buying guides
- Working in partnership with our trade distributors to win business – including training, product
trials, menu development, installation and access to our state of the art development kitchen
facility (see attached recent case study).

R H Hall are Exclusive UK Distributors for Sharp Commercial Microwave Ovens, Maestrowave Catering Equipment, iWave Automated Foodservice Solutions, Smeg Foodservice Ovens, Simply Stainless Modular Fabrications, Crown Verity Professional Barbecue Systems and the New Covent Garden Soup Server. We are also nationally appointed wholesalers for most other leading brands in foodservice equipment.

For more information, please visit:www.rhhall.com Or contact our Sales Team on 01296 663400 or sales@rhhall.com