Voice of the trade

Vince Holden

Joint Managing Director, Hugh Mackay

Vince Holden is not known as a shy, retiring kind of guy, so as he hangs up his pattern books after 46 years in flooring, we asked him for his thoughts on the trade!

Q What’s been the biggest change you have seen over your career?

A Probably technology. Whether that be the advent of the mobile phone that meant you were contactable almost 24/7, right through to the portals that a lots of suppliers have now. This has all meant that every aspect of the customer’s supply chain is much more accessible. No more standing in a foul smelling phone box phoning your orders in. Ah… the good old days.

Q What’s the best thing about the flooring trade?

A That’s an easy one, the people. Colleagues, competitors and customers. I’ve met and worked with so many amazing, friendly and loyal people over the years, building relationships that really do matter.

Q What’s the worst thing about the flooring trade?

A Maybe I’m just getting old but I feel that there are a lot of blurred lines at this moment in time in the trade. You’ve got fitters wanting to be retailers, retailers wanting to be distributors, distributors wanting to be manufacturers, manufacturers wanting to be distributors etc, etc. I’m not sure where that’s going to end up. My other pet hate is ‘pseudo’ sales where a carpet worth £20m2 is advertised at £40 or £50 with 50% off and another 10% off if you order before Tuesday evening. I can’t believe the end users are that gullible, but they are. My first job in retail at Bernard Povey in Middlesbrough taught me it was the final price on the floor that mattered. (Bernard Povey, what a salesman and teacher he was by-the way).

Q What should you have done differently?

A Worked harder at school. Seriously though, I guess that would imply that I’m not happy with what I have achieved and in some ways I’m not. As a kid from a comprehensive in Kirkby I think I’ve done ok to end up as Joint MD of a PLC flooring supplier. (David Judge, former MD of Cormar, went to the same school… weird, eh). I retire feeling I could have achieved more but I would probably need other people to tell me what I could have done differently.

Q What is the product you are most proud off and/or which has made the biggest difference?

A That would have to be Durham Twist. Every manufacturer needs a signature range and this is Hugh Mackays. For colour, quality and presentation I think it’s up there with the best.

Q If you had to single out one thing, what do retailers need to do better?

A In general our retailers have been amazingly adaptable, especially in the last few years. There are some really fantastic ones out there. Their stores are a much more attractive place than they were years ago also. If I had to be really picky I’d say try to take a bit more care supplying your customer a flooring that will do the job required. A lot of customer service issues come from the wrong type or colour or carpet being supplied for the wrong area.

Q What do manufacturers need to do better generally?

A In many ways to borrow an old saying, the retailers “have never had it so good.” Manufacturers and distributors are delivering carpets within a day or two of ordering in many cases. Display has become a lot more professional. They can check stock on their mobile phone from the customer’s house.

As with the previous answer I’m being a bit picky, but we do need to make sure that we all have stock on the shelves to back up the great service that we all offer. Graham Waldron from Headlam had a saying: “Can you stock it, can you cut it, can you deliver it?”

It’s as true today as when he said it 30-odd years ago. Stock is King.

Q Will more things change in the next 10 years than have changed in the last decade?

A No I think it will continue at the current pace. Most things in the marketplace were around when I started 46 years ago. It’s just the colours that change.

Q What’s the biggest single trend you see coming in our sector?

A Product wise the big trend is already here, that is, the amount of hard flooring being supplied now domestically. A trip to any new show home shows that carpet is now only about 50% of what is put on the floor. Suppliers of ‘the fluffy stuff’ are going to have to work harder to promote the features/benefits of their products that are undoubtably there.

On the supply side the rise of ‘white van man’ is an interesting/ worrying development. Many years ago someone from Allied Carpets came out with a statement saying there would be no independent retailers in the future. Well guess what, they’re still here. I see the supply of carpet to people with no rent or rates as the biggest threat yet. And you can include the multiples in that as well.

Q What was the most fun you’ve had in your career?

A Those who know me and have worked with me will tell you that enjoying what I do is one of my main priorities. I believe that if you enjoy your job, you do it better.

I’ve had some great fun with some great people in my career, however the 6 months I had working in retail with a guy called John Travis who now has Regency Carpets in Billingham were literally a laugh a minute. How we got the job done I’ll never know. But we did. Great times.