A Covid Success Story

After only two and a half years, AlphaStor has grown from ground zero to a turnover of £1m, by supplying and installing pallet racking and shelving systems to warehouses across the North West and the Midlands. This is not a new concept, nor is it a new product. On the face of it they aren’t doing anything ‘new’ at all. So, what happened?

Brendan, the founder of the company, has been working in the industry since 2003. He has worked his way through the ranks of one of the biggest racking manufacturers in Europe, by selling pallet racking systems in multi million pound transactions. Even before the pandemic, and any sort of lockdown, he was becoming increasingly frustrated with red tape, and the inability to respond to his customers’ needs. Brendan comments: For me the most important quality in business is to ‘do what you say you’re going to do’. We all get judged on our actions, not on our intentions.

It became clear to Brendan that in order to be able to maintain this stance in the marketplace, he had to have complete control of the process. In doing so, Brendan resigned from his employer during the first Covid Lockdown and set up AlphaStor in August 2020. But being subject to a noncompete clause, and being a brand new company, how do you compete with one of the biggest manufacturers in Europe? The answer is you don’t.

Brendan continues the story: I made the promise to myself and my previous employer that I would not approach any of my previous clients. My thoughts were also that there was no way that I could compete with a manufacturer, selling directly to a client. While we are also buying from the same manufacturer and selling on – it turns out I was wrong on that one.

My business model was to stay local, within one hours drive of my home in Chester, to approach smaller, local companies, and to forge relationships with local Industrial Estate Agents. To offer a high level of service from repairs and racking inspections to full installations. As well as offering guidance and additional support throughout the process to make our clients experience is as smooth as possible.

My goal was to find and build relations with clients that would stay for the long term rather than one off projects. So, I took the approach of doing the smaller jobs that my competitors weren’t interested in, such as damage repairs and reconfiguration works.

Throughout the 20 years of experience in this industry I have gained knowledge of high level, large projects. This has allowed me to pass on that knowledge to smaller clients who often make do and mend.

We also work with some of the local Commercial Estate Agents and do free racking layout drawings. This can make it easier for them sell or let their warehouses. This service has been a great success for us and led to us winning several projects.

We have now expanded our geographical area to the Midlands and are still looking for clients that we can work with on a long term basis. If we can start small, and help them to grow, it normally leads to a long term relationship that benefits us both.

Pallet racking is often over simplified. ‘It’s just a big version of Meccano – how hard can it be?’ is a phrase that I hear regularly. In its most basic form, this is true. However, if you want the most efficient use of you space, do you just want to put up the cheapest thing that you can find, and store 500 pallets of stock? Or would you rather get AlphaStor to look plan it properly, and store 800 pallets of stock, in exactly the same space and probably at a lower cost per pallet space?

The issue is that when someone moves into a new warehouse they always think ‘we will never fill this’. This results in them not putting much effort into being space efficient at the beginning, which inevitably catches them up later. We will always work with our clients to show them how to be space efficient from the outset, and how they can add to the racking system as they need it. It doesn’t all have to be done in one go, as long as it is planned properly. We have devised an Infinity Loop which shows all of the stages that a client is likely to go through with their storage system, and how AlphaStor can help along the way. Now I have had the time to take a step back, I took the decision to join the Chamber of Commerce. Although the idea of being a business leader is still new to me, I know firsthand what a lonely place it is, and I think this is a great opportunity to network in my local area.

It will also allow me to listen to and learn from other people in a similar position, and if I can, to help and support others. I am particularly interested in getting involved with the Young Chamber as I wish I had the opportunity at a young age to learn the basic mechanics of business. That way, I may have taken the AlphaStor leap a lot sooner.

From a business point of view, I am hoping to be able to meet businesses of any size, who have a storage requirement, and may need my help improve their space efficiency. This is something that I am happy to do for Chamber members with no cost or obligation.

I look forward to meeting and working with the members of the West Cheshire and North Wales Chamber of Commerce, and can hopefully contribute something to the Chamber and to the region we are in.

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Is your Workplace Prepared?

Did you know that an estimated 441,000 workers in Britain sustained an injury at work in 2021/22?

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