The Bespoke Amenities Company

THE BESPOKE A M E N I T I E S C O M PA N Y

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THE BESPOKE AMENITIES COMPANY

Hospitality Amenities Specialist to Create

African Jobs PRODUCTION: Karl Pietersen

The Bespoke Amenities Company has achieved a clean sweep of goals this year: Delivering excellent products, creating jobs and growing business. Founder and Managing Director, Bruce Turner tells Enterprise Africa about his drive for African expansion and growth of the product portfolio. www.enterprise-africa.net / 3

INDUSTRY FOCUS: MANUFACTURING

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As a business traveller, you’ve probably checked into a hotel and made use of the complimentary amenities gifted to you by your host. The convenience of shampoo, shower gel, lotion, soap and much more is invaluable for regular travellers, and can become an exciting USP for some hotels. But even the best of these amenities can often be imported bulk products that are in fact not unique at all.

Even the ‘high-end’ or ‘luxury’ products are manufactured in the East, places like China, Taiwan, Vietnam or Indonesia for basement prices and distributed across the globe. But in South Africa, one Gauteng-based business is looking to change that and deliver not only world-class quality and competitive prices, but also products that are well-designed and offer something different for clients.

The Bespoke Amenities Company

(TBAC) was founded in 2012 by Bruce Turner, a South African entrepreneur, who realised the potential of the country’s manufacturing sector when it came to cosmetics.

“I had been working in South Africa, for Crabtree & Evelyn,” he says.

“We did importing of hospitality cosmetics but I had always wanted to manufacture, particularly after visiting a number of cosmetic manufacturing facilities. I thought this was a commodity we could do in South Africa and I saw a gap in the market between the international products that we were importing and the stuff that was locally made. I thought we could succeed by following global standards on quality and packaging but by doing it locally – that was my inspiration.”

Turner’s other motivation was an ambition to create employment.

With a ludicrous unemployment

rate currently sitting at around 28%, Turner describes the situation as unsustainable and suggests that whatever small impact TBAC can make is welcome.

“Initially, we didn’t have any clients. We didn’t have any manufacturing experience. We didn’t have any design experience. It started off with us designing the products and then encouraging customers to sign off on the concept so that we could commission a manufacturing run, but we had to develop talent from the ground up.

“I got one of the first orders for a customer in Zambia who needed some soap. I could get the soap boxes made locally and we grew from there.

I invested into packaging, products, plant and factory, and then we got our first big break with Legacy Hotels.

From there we have steadily grown every year.”

// WE WANT TO BE AN AFRICAN MANUFACTURER THAT COMPETES PRICE-WISE AND QUALITY-WISE WITH ANY OF THE BIG MANUFACTURERS AROUND THE WORLD //

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THE BESPOKE AMENITIES COMPANY

CHF Global is a PROUD logistics partner of Bespoke Amenities, we have had the privilege to watch them grow over the years both nationally and internationally and we are very excited to be a part of their journey as they continue to grow into Africa CHF Global is a Niche Logistics company that tailors solutions specific to the needs of our clients such as: • • •

Dedicated In-house Personnel Next Generation Live Track and Trace Technology Pick & Pack Solutions

• • •

Imports and Exports (land, sea & air) Ecommerce Solutions Warehousing

• • •

Distribution Dedicated Loads Domestic and International Courier

For more information on our tailored solutions please contact us + 27 11 822 1022 or info@chf.co.za There is no solution that we cannot cater for so ask yourself, shouldn’t you be speaking to us?

COMPLETE PACKAGE Today, the company makes everything. Walk into a hotel room, wash your hands, take a shower, moisturise, brush your teeth, even put on your complimentary slippers – TBAC could have designed and created everything.

“We make a lot of shampoo and we make a lot of soap but generally you have to provide everything – a hotel group will take shampoo, body wash, lotion, soap, shower caps – everything. We manufacture all of our own liquids, that’s shampoo, conditioner, hand sanitiser, body wash, room fragrance etc; we manufacture a lot of soap (which we also sell to mines, hospitals and schools as well as hospitality) and we have started making components such as bottles, caps and slippers.

“Our goal is to manufacture 90% of the components we use as well as the liquids. We want to invest in bottles, boxes, tubes etc – everything that makes up a product.

“We want to be an African manufacturer that competes pricewise and quality-wise with any of the big manufacturers around the world,” explains Turner.

Competition is fierce. Many hotel chains have existing relationships with brands rather than manufacturers and this means products can come from anywhere. Turner hopes that TBAC can dig deeper into these relationships

and create its own connections resulting in more local manufacturing.

“The long-term vision is that we want to compete with the manufacturers from the East. We really believe there is no reason that a product made in Johannesburg can’t compete against a product from China. Our long-term goal is for global amenities companies to look at us as a real option for global contracts.”

The quality delivered by TBAC is undeniable. Recognised as ‘Proudly South African’ and also a holder of various ISO certifications, the company has proven its credentials

//INITIALLY, WE DIDN’T HAVE ANY CLIENTS. WE DIDN’T HAVE ANY MANUFACTURING EXPERIENCE. WE DIDN’T HAVE ANY DESIGN EXPERIENCE // www.enterprise-africa.net / 5

INDUSTRY FOCUS: MANUFACTURING

// WE REALLY BELIEVE THERE IS NO REASON THAT A PRODUCT MADE IN JOHANNESBURG CAN’T COMPETE AGAINST A PRODUCT FROM CHINA // by cementing its place in customer supply chains across the whole of southern Africa.

“We have resellers across 17 African countries and they make up a big chunk of our business. We

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have partners in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Angola and more. Typically, we design, manufacture and supply the product and the reseller will service the clients in those markets. We also supply directly to City Lodge Hotels, Legacy Hotels, Holiday Inns in South Africa and other international brands. We are also working on deals which would see us manufacture international brands here for hotels that are contractually obliged to take them. For example, an international hotel chain will have a group standard and part of that standard maybe to have a particular brand. Typically, those brands will be made in the East and shipped around the world. We are talking to brands saying we can

manufacture here and they will get the same product but manufactured locally. That would be very interesting for us and is very important in Africa.

It will also help with logistics – Africa is not like Europe; every border has a different requirement. It is becoming extremely important to work with guys on the continent who know how the continent works,” details Turner.

MANUFACTURING A FUTURE Since the beginning of the year, a number of notable investments have been made into South Africa’s manufacturing sector. Whether it’s automotive, food, textiles or cosmetics, it seems as though everyone recognises the importance of manufacturing as an industry.

THE BESPOKE AMENITIES COMPANY

Just last year, the Manufacturing Circle launched its ‘Map to A Million New Jobs in a Decade’ plan, with

the organisation’s chairman André de Ruyter saying: “If manufacturing can expand to 30% of GDP, between

800,000 and 1.1 million direct jobs can be created, with five to eight times that number in indirect jobs.”

TBAC is already far down the road with investment and expansion plans that will see the company able to grow and create jobs.

“We are opening the factory in Ghana with our partners there,” enthuses Turner. “The expansion plan is to offer a complete logistics solution as we know that Africa is as much about getting the product to the client as it is about making the product. It is vital to have bases in strategic markets and Ghana is part of the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) and there is a need for locally manufactured goods there.

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: MANUFACTURING

“Part of our expansion plan is to have a factory in Ghana that can service all of West Africa, and it’s the same story in East Africa. We’re starting with a distribution centre in Tanzania and we’d like to look at manufacturing in East Africa as well.”

Locally, new jobs will be created in Johannesburg as the company looks to increase its product range by investing in the development of its existing facility in Kya Sand.

TBAC is increasing size, capacity and adding new lines so that it can manufacture more components.

“South Africa is our home and we are definitely investing in manufacturing and scaling the factory to carry more work. We want to continually improve performance

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to ensure we can meet international requirements and be competitive globally,” says Turner.

He also hints at international growth saying that discussions are underway with partners in Europe and the USA about exporting locally manufactured products to other major global markets.

With all of this expansion inevitably comes increased staffing numbers. “We have said we wanted 350 staff by 2020; we are behind that right now but it remains a goal.

It is a big reason we started this business – we need manufacturing jobs in the country. The facility in Ghana will need a team and job creation is always a part of our plans,” says Turner.

SUCCESS SMELLS SWEET Through TBAC’s history, the quest for excellence has never relented. Thanks to this endless drive, the market has responded and Turner has started to see some return on his endeavour.

“From a cosmetic perspective, I believe we are top of the pile but we don’t have a monopoly – there’s a lot of competition that pushes us all the time.

“The market has changed a lot from when we started. I would imagine 70% of the products were imported whereas now it’s probably 70% locally manufactured.

“We are lucky to have a team that works hard to overcome challenges.

It’s not by any stretch plain sailing but we have been lucky and things have

THE BESPOKE AMENITIES COMPANY

fallen into place as we planned. We are meeting all of our goals but it never happens in a smooth line,” he says.

Despite all of the success the company has realised, Turner is under no illusion. The hard work must continue he says.

// WE WANT TO PLAY OUR SMALL PART IN DEVELOPING AFRICAN MANUFACTURING AS SOUTHERN AFRICA HAS, TO SOME EXTENT, SURRENDERED ITS MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY //

“There are some top SA brands and some big corporate conglomerates that play in our space – all across southern Africa.

“Manufacturing is tough. There is learning that happens every day.

We do the right things in terms of our customers. There’s massive room for improvement and there are a lot of risks - just look at electricity supply and cheap Chinese products that flood the market.

“We have managed to grow significantly despite uncertainty.

Our clients are seeing corporates and government travel less but we remain positive about Africa. I remain personally positive about South Africa and that is why we keep investing here. It’s potentially a great manufacturing destination and there is a real need to create jobs.”

Just six years into its journey, TBAC is already making more of an impact than many businesses make in their lifetime. Creating jobs, building an industry, adding value, delighting customers, and manufacturing first class products, this is company building a platform for significant future success.

“We want to play our small part in developing African manufacturing as southern Africa has, to some extent, surrendered its manufacturing industry and, with 28% unemployment, it is a great vehicle for job creation,” concludes Turner.

WWW.TBAC.CO.ZA

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AS FEAT UR ED IN

ENTERPRISE AFRICA

SEPT EMBER 2018