TCS MD Thomas Small cannot be accused of taking the easy route. His energetic approach has seen his company flourish, delivering a strong combination of product, branding and services at costs that are hard to beat. Thomas’ refusal to stand still makes him difficult to pin down for an interview – Paul Farley took his chance at Manchester Furniture Show …
TCS is on a mission – to spread its message to every independent retailer in the UK. “We want every independent to know who we are,” says MD Thomas Small, “regardless of whether they end up dealing with us or not.”
This ambitious approach is typical of the company’s founder. Although TCS is performing well, and boasts strong stockiest numbers across the board, Thomas always sees room for improvement, and his belief in the company’s offer is unwavering.
“Although TCS is still growing, we want to broaden our customer base – particularly the smaller independents,” he explains. “The only challenge is getting them to get behind our concept – and for this, we need people on the ground.”
The need to connect – and, in some cases, reconnect – with retailers has led Thomas to introduce sales representatives to his UK team for the first time: Andrew Sneddon, previously buying director with AHF, who covers Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Cheshire; the ex-Staingard and Servico sales manager, John Conroy, who is responsible for Yorkshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester and Lancashire and Ashlee Kirk former store manager for Brooks Gibbs Ltd trading as Beds Are Uzzz who over sees all of Wales, Gloucestershire, Shropshire and Oxfordshire.
Thomas feels that by employing representatives, he can, in some cases, develop a stronger connection with a greater number of independent retailers than he would have been able to through agents.
“Independent retailers need far more support these days,” agrees Andrew. “Because I’ve been on the retail side myself, I’m well equipped to provide them with the strong support services TCS promises, and the hope is that, in delivering this closer service, we become more meaningful to them in turn.”
Thomas continues: “From the biggest to the smallest independent, we want to treat every retailer equally. We need to be seen to be providing support in every area, at every level.
“I find that a good proportion of retailers have a strong, clear focus, and are market leaders accordingly – but many others need to define exactly what they can offer their local community that others can’t. We believe we can help encourage local communities to start buying from local stores again.
“We’ve established our brands ethos of “Service, Quality and Value” and take seriously our commitment to deliver this, but like all businesses there are elements which can be improve upon,” he admits. “We’re really striving now to provide consistent contact – and a huge part of this is having someone on the ground that understands our company’s ethos.”
“Retailers can deal with TCS who operate in one of three ways,” says Thomas. “They can engage with us through the original - TCS; “The Complete Service” with no minimum orders and the creative freedom to design Your Sofa, Your Way, which allows customers to truly enjoy the extensive benefits; or customers, can also order full containers and benefit from substantial discounts. Option three is “The TCS For Less” channel, offering customers the choice of no minimum order but they can achieve container prices.”
“If a small business understands our concept, they can really utilize it to their advantage,” Thomas explains. “They get great prices, there’s no need for them to have warehousing facilities, or store backup product. They enjoy our up-to-date stock transparency, and benefit from our POS material. Upon delivery, they have peace of mind that, through us; they’re coming across well to their customers.”
The promise to champion the independent retailer is a bold one, but Thomas has a good track record of sticking to his word. “I don’t focus too much on numbers – it’s not what drives me. I’m more concerned with establishing good relationships with good people,” he says. “If you find the right kind of customer that clicks with you, they’ll never leave – we want to develop that two-way commitment.
“The trading environment might be difficult, but a retailer should still be able to live their lives while doing business – and we like to think we offer the independent the right mix of product and backup to achieve this.”
This article was published in the September issue of Furniture News magazine.
