Rock and a hard place

Let me elaborate a little on this. I may find myself being asked to wait outside the changing room in a woman’s clothes shop while my wife tries on an assortment of garments. Ten minutes pass and I’m still standing there waiting and trying not to look as if I make a habit of this sort of thing. What happens then, is my wife will emerge from behind the curtain decked out in a new item and ask the inevitable question, ‘what do you think?’ I have to be careful now, because if I look and say something along the lines of ‘hmm, I’m not sure’ I will get an immediate ‘why, what’s wrong with it?’ On the other hand, if I am too quick to say that it looks lovely, I will be accused of just saying that so that I can get home to watch the football. Who would have thought that those four little words, strung together in a sentence, could have the capacity to land me in deep water.

This is more like it

It could be that a member of my team has come up with an idea, thought it through and asked ‘what do you think?’ Now I have to admit, with the team that I am privileged to have around me, I would say that 99% of the time my answer is that it is an excellent idea and I offer words of encouragement and help to develop it further. All of a sudden the answer that I give to those four little words can be the start of something big.

Now we are talking

It was this very kind of relationship that Advantia had built with the senior management team at Spicers. We had our own designated Advantia customer service team located in the Manchester site and although they were Spicers’ employees, they reported into me, such was the trust between us all. I spent a lot of time encamped within Spicers and we were working closely on a Process Improvement Plan across all areas of the business. ‘What do you think’, was a question often asked during our relationship. Unfortunately, we know all too well what happened at Spicers and for us it saw the end of a trusted partnership. It also meant that a lot of livelihoods were lost across the Spicers workforce, but I do take comfort that the Advantia customer service team, the team that had looked after us so well, are all ok and working again.

So, there we were, having to put our emergency Plan B into place, and me wondering if it was possible to build such a strong relationship, in a very short space of time, with a new supplier; I should be so lucky. 

We go again

From an Advantia perspective the only expectation was that, together, we would spend as much time as we needed to in order to build a partnership and offering that our members would be proud of. The area that we did need to work on together was building up the range offering. Yes, there were gaps there that we needed to address. When I think of the times that people said to me ‘Exertis are a brilliant company, but they haven’t got the range’, I didn’t see this as a negative, I saw it as an opportunity to help each other and that is exactly what we set about doing. The Advantia team had all of the data and experience needed to understand where the gaps were and the Exertis team had the expertise in knowing exactly which manufacturers to approach in order to fill those gaps. The recruitment of a very experienced member of the former Spicers purchasing team ensured that we were able to keep the momentum going. As we went through the year those gaps were being filled on a weekly basis and we ensured that our members were kept fully up to speed with the progress and, indeed, what they were now able to purchase through Exertis that they couldn’t at the beginning of our relationship.

In the spring of 2021, the gaps were all filled, and we had a range offering that could easily compete with the private label brands on offer in the marketplace. Again, this was very much a joint approach between Exertis and Advantia and a collective decision was made to call the new range ValueX. In May 2021, we launched this exciting new range and concept. I have to say that I am extremely proud of the Advantia and Exertis management teams and what we have managed to achieve between us in such a short space of time. Is this the end of the project? Absolutely not, this is the start. The range will be added to as and when needed and other exciting projects are currently underway. There is still one question asked between us regularly, you guessed it, ‘what do you think?’

Solid foundations

It has been a while since I heard the comment ‘Exertis are a brilliant company but they haven’t got the range’. What I get regularly now, and have done for the last year if I am honest, are suppliers and manufacturers calling me to say how much they would like to work with us and asking how do they go about it?

There is no doubt about it, the loss of Spicers could have been a fatal blow to Advantia, but our view is what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and the Advantia and Exertis relationship is testament to that.

What do you think? If you would like to find out more about joining the Advantia family, contact us for a virtual cuppa. Contact us now.

Go on, you know you want to

As we are posting this blog on a Friday, lets finish off with a bit of Friday fun as we like a bit of fun at Advantia. Hidden in this blog are the titles of 5 songs, all you need to do is find those songs. To make it easier for you the song titles are by the following artists: Spandau Ballet, Elton John, The Beatles, Hot Chocolate and Kylie Minogue.

All you need to do is identify the song titles and email your answers to info@advantia.co.uk for the chance to win a £25 Argos voucher. Entries are required by Friday 18^th June 2021. All correct entries will be entered into a draw and the winner will be notified by email.

Full T&Cs:

1. By entering the promotion, entrants confirm that they have read and agree to be bound by these terms and conditions and all rules and guidelines applicable to the use of LinkedIn
2. The Promoter is Advantia Business Solutions Ltd, 64 Albion Court, Attleborough Road, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, CV11 4JJ. Registered in England No. 3165224
3. To enter this competition, entrants must find the correct song titles by Spandau Ballet, Elton John, The Beatles, Hot Chocolate and Kylie Minogue and then send the song titles by email to info@advantia.co.uk. There is only one song per artist to be found within the blog. 
4. Entrants must be UK residents, aged 18 years or over. This promotion is not open to any employees of the Promoter or any of their affiliate companies, their families, agents or anyone else connected with this promotion.
5. One entry allowed per person. Entries submitted on behalf of another person will not be accepted and joint submissions are not allowed. Incomplete, illegible, misdirected or late entries will not be accepted.
6. If applicable, copyright in all entries shall belong to the Promoter. Entries shall not be returned to entrants.
7. No purchase is necessary; however internet access is required.
8. Promotion Period: The promotion is open to entries from 10:00am on 4th June 2021 until 5:00pm on 18th June 2021.
9. The winner will receive one £25 Argos Gift Card which will be sent via email once the winner has been chosen. There is one prize only to be won. The prize is non-refundable, non-transferable and non-exchangeable and there is no cash alternative offered.
10. The winner will be randomly selected from all valid entries received during the Promotion Period by an independent person, or under the supervision of an independent person. The winner will be contacted within 2 days of the draw via the contact details provided with their entry and will be asked to provide their full name and email address as confirmation. If a winner declines a prize or fails to respond within the required period, they forfeit any right to the prize. If a winner fails to respond within 4 days of this initial contact, a redraw will take place from the remaining valid entries to select a new winner. A winner may be required to submit valid identification before receiving their prize.
11. The Promoter reserves the right to discount any inappropriate or offensive entries and to disqualify any entries if the Promoter, at its sole discretion, believes that there has been an attempt to manipulate or tamper with the operation of the promotion (including, without limitation, by setting up multiple LinkedIn accounts in order to submit multiple entries).
12. In the event of unforeseen circumstances or circumstances outside its reasonable control, the Promoter reserves the right to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, this promotion without prior notice.
13. Entrants agree to be bound by the decisions of the Promoter, which are final in all matters relating to the promotion. No correspondence will be entered into in respect of the Promoter’s decisions.
14. The Promoter does not accept responsibility for network, computer or software failures of any kind and has no responsibility for lost, delayed or misdirected entries. The Promoter does not accept any responsibility for any infringement of any third-party intellectual property rights caused by entrants entering this promotion.
15. Nothing in these terms excludes the Promoter’s liability for death or personal injury caused by its negligence or for fraud, or any other liability that the Promoter may not exclude by law. Subject to that, the Promoter and its associated companies will not be liable for any loss (including, without limitation, indirect, special or consequential loss or loss of profits) expense or damage which is suffered or sustained in connection with this promotion or accepting or using any prize, including any loss incurred as a result of any delay and/or failure to perform any obligation to the winner or other entrants that is caused by: technical problems of any kind which may limit or prevent any person's participation in the promotion, any loss or damage arising from or in connection with the allocation or enjoyment of a prize, any act or omission of any third party, particularly any third party involved in the provision of services relevant to the prize; or any other events beyond the Promoter's control that may cause the promotion to be disrupted or corrupted or may lead to loss of, or damage to, the winner or to the prize.
16. If any of these terms and conditions are found by a court or regulator to be invalid or unenforceable the remaining other provisions shall continue to apply.
17. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by or associated with LinkedIn or any other social media channel. By entering, entrants acknowledge that LinkedIn do not bear any responsibility for this promotion and, to the maximum extent permitted by law, entrants release LinkedIn from any liability whatsoever in connection with this promotion. All information entrants provide when they enter the promotion is provided to the Promoter and not to LinkedIn or any other social media channel.
18. The Promoter shall use entrants’ personal data for the purposes of carrying out the promotion and to send any relevant promotional emails in the future. If you wish to opt out of this, please include this in your competition entry email to info@advantia.co.uk
19. Subject to the winner’s rights under applicable data protection legislation, the Promoter shall be entitled to use and feature the name of the “Find the song” winner for publicity purposes and winners agree that they will participate in any reasonable publicity arranged by the Promoter or its agencies.
20. These terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and the parties agree that any dispute or action arising under or in connection with these terms and conditions shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of England.