On the Road…

with sales agent Steve Powell owner of Steve Powell Agencies, who specialises in home fragrance and gifts, and covers Wales and the Midlands

What’s your background?

I’ve been in the gift Industry for 31 years. I started in 1992 with Andrew Brownsword Gifts, which then became Hallmark Gifts, selling the very popular Forever Friends plush and gift range for seven years. Then I took a short sidestep into owning a local pub for a handful of years, before becoming a sub agent selling a variety of gift ranges including Colony Candles.

Colony then employed me, changed ownership, and became Wax Lyrical, where I was initially a representative and then worked up from territory sales, key accounts, and national accounts to UK & Ireland sales manager, before moving to

Ashleigh & Burwood eight years ago as its UK sales manager.

Due to the pandemic, I became redundant, so I decided to take the plunge a couple of years ago and use my experience in the gift industry to become a self-employed sales agent, teaming up with a previous sales director of mine and someone

I also consider a close friend, Richard Wood from my Wax Lyrical days. He had also set up on his own during this time with a home fragrance marketing and distribution company called Broughton & Beech, carrying a developing portfolio of new and exciting brands that found the gaps in the UK marketplace.

From this point, due to close and trusted business relationships within the industry, I picked up a few more companies including a rapidly growing home fragrance brand, Henry & Co Home Fragrance, which was also born of the pandemic and, more recently, the established and respected Global Journey Gifts and Acctim Clock brands. My core area is Wales and the Midlands for all my principals, but I’m also a national key account agent for Broughton & Beech and I develop key business for Henry & Co and Acctim Clocks in a wider area.

What’s your working week like?

It’s one of great variety and plenty of driving - both of which I absolutely love. No two days are the same.

They involve building customer relationships face-to-face, on the phone, and by email; working with customers’ requirements; and being hands-on with products. I love setting up displays, demonstrating ranges instore and at trade shows, and using my experience to advise and tailor the best lines within the ranges to maximise sales opportunities for my customers.

What’s keeping you busy?

It really depends on the time of year as this industry is driven by season with Christmas and Mother’s Day being the main two, so my work balance changes week to week, and month to month. For example, I’m now following up from the show season where I attended with my principal companies and had very successful Harrogate Christmas &

Gift, Spring Fair and INDX shows. This entails following through with customers on agreed ranges, chasing deadlines for seasonal orders and, of course, hands-on presenting those ranges and merchandising products in-store to maximise sell-through. Which of ‘your’ products do you use?

I use fragrance all the time and my home and car is usually a very fragrant space, using most of the products from the Broughton & Beech and Henry & Co portfoliofrom the hand-poured in Yorkshire natural wax melts and reed diffusers from Henry & Co to the Mr & Mrs car fragrance and natural Cocodor diffusers from Broughton & Beech. I love fresh fragrances, so my favourites are After Dark from Henry & Co and Aqua Marine from Cocodor. What’s the best aspect of your job?

It’s definitely the variety from day to day, from being in front of customers to being hands-on with products. It’s the perfect fit for me.

What do you do outside work? I love walking with my dog Storm: my big hairy Alaskan Malamute bear of a dog. One of my customers calls him my Fur Baby, which is very apt. I live on the south-west Wales coast, so I’m never short of beaches and hillwalking trails. I also enjoy spending time with my family and particularly seeing my five-year-old grandson. And I love to paint and draw when I can, and want to revisit my pottery-throwing past soon too - for car fragrance” or “we’re not sure where they fit”. But people who love fragrance, love it everywhere.

I’m well into The Great Pottery Throw Down on the telly. What car do you drive and why?

A Volvo XC60: second-hand but (touch wood) reliable and comfortable. It’s an all-wheel drive, so gives me peace of mind on all road surfaces, and has a large boot for samples, stock and overnight bags when I stay away for work - which is quite often.

The Mr & Mrs Car Fragrances from Broughton & Beech are designed by the world famous Italian duo, Luca Trazzi and Marcantonio. They are designed as fun and decorative characters embedded with quality long-lasting fragrances, and sell so well in the gift and home fragrance departments of my customers who have understood their potential.

What are the biggest challenges facing gift retailers? A couple right now are the cost-ofliving and consequently consumer spend.

What are the biggest challenges facing gift suppliers?

During your time in the gift industry, what products have impressed you most and why? I was lucky enough to be at the start of the reed diffuser revolution and saw the growth and challenges that this new fragrancing solution brought back then. Questions from buyers such as “do you light the sticks?” and “I just don’t see them being popular” were familiar barriers.

Today I sometimes face perceptions from buyers who don’t see why they would need car fragrances - despite their stores having car parks with over 100 vehicles visiting daily! They say, “we don’t have the right department

The cost-of-living is having a big impact with the price of raw materials, transport, production and fuel rises all impacting the pricing of goods. Suppliers that import from abroad and trade with Northern Ireland also have a lot more headaches regarding official paperwork and timelines.

What are the biggest opportunities facing gift suppliers?

The opportunities that present themselves during these times and give a supplier an advantage are: producing products that are good quality, UK-made or designed, and in tune with UK market trends; and giving excellent service to your customer. These factors can give you a very definite edge.

What’s the biggest change you’ve seen since you joined the gift industry?

The biggest change is that the gift and home fragrance industry was dominated by a handful of large suppliers until relatively recently.

Due to various reasons including the pandemic, the dominance of large suppliers has waned because of changing buying patterns, and they have either ceased to exist, or have merged with other suppliers to try and maintain influence and share efficiencies, or have just become less relevant. This has made the marketplace a much more dynamic, competitive environment and has opened up opportunities for new start-up companies.

Name one change you would like to see in the gift industry. The biggest change I’d like to see is a two-in-one solution: for more reasonable and competitive pricing for suppliers to exhibit at trade shows, and for various show organisers to work more closely together to avoid the overlapping of shows. Trade shows are a huge expense for companies and buyers. To have a more reasonable rate, with no clash of shows, would enable suppliers and buyers to have more confidence in the shows they exhibit at being well attended by customers - which equals more suppliers exhibiting - which equals more customers visiting. A win-win situation.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in the gift industry?

The piece of advice I would give is one that my first ever sales manager said to a group of us young salespeople in a morning meeting back in the early 1990s: “You’re selling lovely products that make people smile and feel good. So be prepared, organised, honest and upbeat. But most importantly, smile when you visit your customers - and they will smile with you.”