Return to form
April 1st 2007 Whisper it in PR circles but honesty is sometimes the best policy. After the botched Amber acquisition saw 70 of its top 100 customers take business elsewhere, Crawford's future looked bleak. So the company decided to wipe the slate and start again. As a result, says md, Neil Davis, business is booming. Brendan Coyne reports
If there was a book on how not to do mergers, we'd probably be chapter one," says Neil Davis. As the man tasked with picking up the pieces and succeeding remarkably quickly he can afford a wry smile.
Problems began in 2002 when, having acquired Amber to complement the Crawford product range, the two cultures clashed. With relationships strained internally, those externally suffered.
Eventually, Amber was closed and Crawford ended up a smaller business than before the merger.
"Management had taken their eye off the ball and service had gone down the pan," is Davis' succinct explanation. "So we took stock and worked on the service side ever since." The company now has 50 mobile service engineers within an hour of any industrial premises in the UK, a comprehensive central stock facility with 24 hour parts delivery and customers returning to the fold in numbers.
Davis joined as managing director in 2005, approaching the turnaround with a simple three-strand plan: Find out what customers want and how to deliver it; improve staff moral and develop a positive culture; and hone organisational processes.
The latter is paramount, he says, "Because even with the best customer service and culture under the sun, you will struggle without the financial control and physical infrastructure in place." While working on its service delivery plan, Crawford downsized, cutting staff from 400 to 100 to balance costs and sales.
Those with their heads still up were kept on and proactive leadership installed to foster a culture of continuous improvement. Next came more service engineers and the central stock facility in 2006. Both the facility and vans are automatically re-stocked.
Aligning these elements with clear, differentiated service and maintenance packages delivered rapid results: Sixty of the top 70 lost customers have returned.
Last year saw 50 per cent growth and the first three months of this year suggest 60 per cent growth on 2006, according to Davis. However, he is keen to underline growth as controlled and profitable, with the focus on a relatively small number of large customers.
"For example, we've secured national accounts for ALDI and LIDL, which is straightforward growth because it's repeat work: we do 50 stores a year for ALDI and they are all the same; it's easy work to control, we make good money and everybody's happy. We understand what they want, deliver it and win repeat business. That's the model we're working to. Customers aren't just coming back once but again and again." The drive now is to recover the 10 major customers that have yet to return to the fold. Davis says with the entire company is working hard to achieve it.
If the last 18 months is anything to go by, they may return sooner than later, with others in tow. More articles from Crawford UK Ltd: | 
