Sound approach secures new business with Securicor Omega Express

Winning new business is the bedrock of growth for all organisations, and making the right first impression is imperative. By tracing the fortunes of one Dulux Trade Contract Partnership painting contractor, we gain an insight into how tendering for a single contract has led to a cascade of new business from the parcel delivery giant, Securicor Omega Express.

When the introduction of ICI's Dulux Trade Contract Partnership was announced, around 18 months ago, it was met with widespread approval. Following the introduction of the partnership scheme, the number of companies that approached Dulux Trade to source names of approved painting contractors increased steadily. Securicor Omega Express, the nationwide parcel delivery service organisation, was one such organisation that had a growing backlog and an increasing demand for painting work across multiple sites.

In compiling an appropriate selection of painting contractors to tender for the Securicor work, Dulux Trade placed high priority on quality of work and geographical location. Included on the short-list of three companies that were invited to price an initial contract at Securicor's distribution centre at Staines in Middlesex, was A.C. Beck, one the UK's largest volume purchaser of Dulux Trade paint. For the successful painting contractor, there was the potential to extend the work to multiple sites across the South of England.

Cost based on quality
Chris Lydon, Securicor area property manager, said: "The perceived advantages of the partnership scheme to Securicor are primarily associated with cost; but specifically, cost that is based on the awareness of the quality of work we demand.

"Similar partnership schemes have been introduced with considerable success in local authorities and in the commercial world there are definite advantages for contractors of quality who strive for the same standards of quality we do.

" As an extension to the Trade Contract Partnership, Dulux has more recently introduced a discretionary performance related guarantee. In effect, under specific conditions, a flexible fixed-term guarantee of paint and workmanship is confirmed over a specified period of time. The guarantee is based on a Dulux Trade Specifier's report of the background and history of the structure or building, combined with the painting contractor's report. Typically, a guarantee could extend from one to four years, depending on individual case histories and circumstances.

Chris Lydon said: "The introduction of the Dulux Trade guarantee as part of any contract is a particular benefit. As an extension to this, with qualifying criteria, Dulux has offered Securicor a four year guarantee, which means that following a redecoration we can arrange for an interim wash-down in this period, rather than a total redecoration at three years. This way of working represents an investment in terms of a significant saving of time and resources.

Cascade effect
The initial tender involved pricing for work at eight Securicor regional branches. Chris Lydon said: "The way the selected painting contractor handled the first project would be tremendously important. While A.C. Beck was not the most competitive on all aspects of the tender, it was in many of them. At Staines, 85 per cent of the painting was in the warehouse area, the remainder was in the office spaces and there was a small proportion of external work. From the outset I was impressed with the way in which A.C. Beck directors liaised with us before commencing the work. For their entire duration on site, they kept the business operational while work was in progress.

"Following this initial project we invited the company to price the remaining seven sites across the South of England, and to build into that price an appropriate volume discount."

Since those early discussions, work has been undertaken by A.C. Beck at Securicor's warehouse bases at Reading, High Wycombe, Croydon and is soon to be completed at Vauxhall in London. Vauxhall is by far the largest of the sites visited to date, and has involved exclusively external decorating, where the other sites have called for internal, external and some minor repair works.

At Reading, Securicor operations manager Peter Hinton said: "The entire exercise, which involved external and internal painting, was completed in one week. By tackling the least inconvenient places first, the decorators progressed gradually into the central operating area of the warehouse. We hardly noticed they were there. They also undertook plastering work, which they made a very good job of, and selectively replaced wooden boards and some door frames.

In the office area, Securicor staff continued to work throughout the redecoration which took place mainly in office hours, except for one weekend when the A.C. Beck team came in early at 6.30am, at our request, to complete the painting of a section of the warehouse in order to be clear by noon, in fact, they fitted the work around us."

A similar positive experience was reported by Securicor Staines warehouse manager, Chris Brogan. He said: "Staines is a very busy parcel delivery base and we have around 65 people working here. Before the work commenced, Steve Beck visited the site and following this we were assigned a central contact from A.C. Beck for the duration of the work. The team wasted no time and a lot of ground was covered in the few days they were here, and the work was completed to a good standard. I was very impressed and had no hesitation in recommending them to other branches."

With a nationwide network of over 400 locations Securicor Omega Express boundaries in the South of England extend from High Wycombe to Salisbury, Canterbury to the South Coast and Poole to South Kent. In total, in this region, Securicor has 45 warehouse bases. In recent years the company has benefited from the dramatic increase in Internet shopping and currently handles around 2 million consignments a week generated in the UK.

Chris Lydon said: "Now that we have got through a backlog of redecoration projects, we are happy for A.C. Beck to work in a way that suits their preference for scheduling. The inclusion of planned maintenance in the contracts also enables better long term site maintenance budgeting for Securicor."