BAPP: Celebrating 25 years in Scunthorpe

13 GTE-E01-S4-AUGUST 19, 2014

Celebrating

25 years in Scunthorpe

A

SCUNTHORPE company is celebrating a quarter of a century of growth, 25 years after starting life with just two members of staff.

business in Hull, and has overseen the company becoming a major part of the local and national economy in more ways than one.

The Scunthorpe branch covers the whole of Lincolnshire and the majority of Norfolk, dealing with heavy industry and large-scale manufacturing companies.

It has also provided the nuts and bolts of some of Britain’s most iconic structures, including The Shard in London and the Humber Bridge.

Having grown from a small site on Colin Road, BAPP now occupies 12,000 square feet on the street, combining offices with a new tool centre, selling from an on-site

Introduction Today, BAPP is the largest independent distributor of fasteners in the UK, with the Colin Road branch one of 11 located across the UK and further expansion on the horizon.

Managing director Peter Reeve brought BAPP to Scunthorpe in 1989 after first establishing the

warehouse and also stocking all forms of PPE and work wear.

As Mr Reeve is keen to highlight, no successful business can succeed without a dedicated staff, and the managing director is quick to praise those who have contributed to the business’ steady, organic growth, from Branch manager Richard Nuttall through to the counter and warehouse personnel, delivery drivers, Sales representatives and administration staff.

Mr Reeve said: “Richard has been with me since we opened 25 years ago and has a real wealth of knowledge and expertise which filters down to other members of staff.

“This means we can be confident in their ability to deal with customer enquiries and requirements in a knowledgeable and professional manner.

“There are two trade counters within the Colin Road premises. The lower trade counter, which is the fixings centre, is managed by another long serving employee James Parkinson.

“James has been in the fastener business for at least thirty years, and that kind of experience is invaluable.

“Also, I must thank my partner and chairman of the group, Dean Cook, whose support, enthusiasm and vision has helped to grow the BAPP Group to what it is today.”

Continued on the next page

Stockists of Industrial Fasteners Engineering Supplies and Health & Safety Products

Celebrating 25 years in Scunthorpe

An extensive range of tool stocks for both Trade and Public

UNIOR would like to congratulate BAPP on this milestone and look forward to supplying quality hand tools to them in the future.

Apex Stainless have been proud to work with Bapp Industrial in helping them supply Stainless Steel Fasteners to the Industry for the past 20 years

Services

T

HE BAPP Group of Companies is the country’s largest independent stockist and distributor of nuts and bolts and associated products.

All fasteners sold by the company have been given the CE mark of approval, and managing director Peter Reeve believes it is the quality of products and knowledge of his staff that has brought BAPP its success over the last 25 years.

He said: “People think fasteners are a very simple business, but when you think about the sort of things they’re used for, you have to know you’re getting quality.

“Recent EU legislation means it is now law that all bolt assemblies used in steel structures have to be CE marked.

“BAPP has a firm grip of this legislation and has for the past three years been putting the necessary infrastructure in place in order that customers can be confident that the product they are buying meets the criteria and can be backed up by certification.”

Mr Reeve said being part of a large group was important.

He said: “It means that even if we don’t have something here in Scunthorpe, we can usually get hold of it within

1972 1989 B 2014

History APP remains a company with a local focus, but over the years has moved from just a small handful of staff into a firm with a global reach.

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The directors and all staff at TFS Derby LTD would like to congratulate Peter Reeve and all at Bapp Scunthorpe for reaching their 25th Anniversary and thank them for their support over the years and may it continue another 25 years.

In house Powder Coating Now introducing our own range of Sealant backed by an NFRC Class ‘A’ accreditation.

COMPOSITE PANELS, SHEETING, FLASHING AND OTHER PRODUCTS

hours from another branch or a central warehouse.

“There are two trucks that come round every night, visiting the branches and keeping us stocked up, and not only are they an asset to the company, but they’re very impressive to behold.

“We’re now in a position where we are able to offer specialist products - things like duraheat and titanium fasteners and high tensile screws - which other places don’t necessarily have access to.

“The variety of stock we carry is huge - we manufacture from 90 millimetres in diameter all the way down to around 2mm - so we know that if there’s a demand or a need, we can meet it.

“It also allows us to deal with large contracts - thousands of fasteners for various purposes - which are the kind we need if we are to continue

growing as a company.”

So far, those contracts have contributed to a yearly turnover of around £40 million, which is on the rise despite the economic downturn of recent years.

And, according to Mr Reeve, customers are keen to renew orders and return to BAPP on the basis of their quality service and quick delivery.

“Service is what it’s all about,” he said.

“We pride ourselves on providing a high quality service to our customers, no matter what the order is, and that quality of service is what keeps people

The group was founded in 1972, and quickly expanded from a single site into the company known across the country Our large warehouse holds a huge variety of stock today. to continental Europe, to the The Scunthorpe branch began with Americas and to Asia, so it really managing director Peter Reeve it is a worldwide operation.” driving products to customers at all The number of staff employed hours of the day. on the Scunthorpe site has The group now boasts an extensive steadily increased over the fleet of vehicles which can be years, with many boasting a tracked across the UK, delivering wealth of experience, adding more than 90 per cent of its orders to the expertise possessed by within 24 hours of the customer the management team in the making their final decision. town.

From humble beginnings has Mr Reeve said: “We have an emerged a truly global company, incredible amount of experience and Mr Reeves says a lot has among the staff, many of whom changed over the years. have been with us for 10 years of He said: “It’s a completely different more. business to when we started in “It’s great for us to know that people terms of the technology and the want to stay with us, and it helps scale, but the core principles remain our customers to know the person – we’re committed to providing our they deal with has experience and customers with high quality products expertise, and is confident with that they can trust, and with quick they’re doing. service they can rely on.

“It’s also a great example to new “We have an exceptional record for staff joining the group, and helps us service, it’s something we’re very to develop the ethos of putting the proud of and will aim to continue. customer first.”

“We now export a lot of products

coming back and really what keeps a company going.

“All our staff work really hard to ensure the service we offer is the best possible, and I believe we’re succeeding at that.

“We’re also very proud of our delivery record and the speed with which we’re able to get products to our customers.

“When I started out I was driving around at 3am taking things to customers, and while things have moved on, we still have that same attitude of putting the customer first.”

The continued success of BAPP has allowed the company to branch out, adding to its extensive catalogue of fasteners and moving into PPE and work wear.

This area of the business can be found on the upper floor and is run by Glyn Sparks, another knowledgeable member of staff.

Mr Reeve said: “It made sense for us to move into PPE purely because of the type of work we do, but also because

Our expert staff can assist with any enquiry

of the sort of companies we deal with.

“Because we have a strong reputation with our fasteners, we’ve used that reputation with our PPE business and offer a wide range of equipment - from hard hats through to safety footwear and protective gloves. We also offer a corporate clothing and in-house badging service on our own machines.

“We offer work wear in a number of styles, and that seems to have proved just as popular - it helps having a showroom in which people can see, touch and feel the products before they buy them, which is always what people want to do before they commit to a purchase.”

Story continued on the next page

www.bapp.co.uk

Stockists of Industrial Fasteners Engineering Supplies and Health & Safety Products 5 Colin Road, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, DN16 1TT T: 01724 282112 F: 01724 861668 sales@bappscunthorpe.co.uk

AUGUST 19, 2014 GTE-E01-S4 16

Large selection of Safety Footwear all available at our trade counter

Over 100 years’ experience in every stitch

BAPP are an

Our impressive, fully stocked, upstairs PPE & workwear counter

official Portwest distributor and we congratulate them on 25 years trading!

B

APP’s Scunthorpe branch continues to add new customers to a long list of contracts.

Future plans

Contact sales@portwest.com or visit www.portwest.com for more information TYPEHIGH-VISIBILITY DESCRIPTIVE NAME • WORKWEAR • SAFETY FOOTWEAR • HAND PROTECTION • PPE • RAINWEAR DESIGNER

GRAPHICS APPROVAL

He said: “If, as a company, you decide to stop growing and settle with what you’ve got, you start to run into problems.

“We take a great deal of pride in our service and meeting our customers’ needs, and that has led to a lot of organic growth.

2015 will bring in a new era for the Scunthorpe Branch with Adam Reeve, Peter’s son, coming on board as a director.

Adam has been managing director at the Hull branch for many years and has grown that business successfully.

Peter said “Eventually I will retire and this move will enable the transition from father to son to run smoothly and Adam’s direct involvement with Scunthorpe will enable me to devote more time to developing further business.

“Our aim is to keep delivering high quality services and keep growing the business - we’ve been doing it for 25 years and hope to keep doing so into the future.”

PRODUCT MANAGER

LINE MANAGER

MARKETING

Congratulates

Bapp Scunthorpe on their

25

APPROVED HARRY HUGH

The wider group is also sharing in that success, with a new branch recently opening in Leicester.

As the Scunthorpe site deals with customers as far afield as Norfolk, managing director Peter Reeve said future expansion could be on the horizon.

He said: “With us doing business down in Norfolk, we could see a new branch in the future.

“The important thing in that case would be to make sure we find the right person to run that branch and build up local contacts - it isn’t easy work, and takes time to become established.”

But a quarter of a century since planting the business in Scunthorpe, Mr Reeve said he had no desire to rest on the company’s impressive laurels.

th

Anniversary!

Mr Reeve with the Scunthorpe team

As proud suppliers to Bapp Scunthorpe since 1989, we look forward to continuing our valued partnership for another twenty-five years!

www.bapp.co.uk Stockists of Industrial Fasteners Engineering Supplies and Health & Safety Products 5 Colin Road, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, DN16 1TT T: 01724 282112 F: 01724 861668 sales@bappscunthorpe.co.uk