Depot springboards success for roofing specialist

Flex-R, a company that supplies materials for the flat roofing industry, has seen a surge in success since opening a depot in Huddersfield which created  six jobs.

In just over 12 months since it opened the depot on Old Fieldhouse Lane in the town, 45% of the company’s turnover now comes through its Huddersfield hub because it is able to do next-day deliveries of its range of roofing membranes and liquid waterproofing systems to building sites across the North of England.

Flex-R – which is based in High Wycombe and is one of the UK’s largest suppliers of EPDM materials – made the move to Huddersfield in a bid to increase the availability and accessibility of its products to roofing contractors working on projects north of the Midlands.

Flex-R’s National Sales Manager Danny Cole said:  “The success of the Huddersfield depot is far beyond what we expected when we opened it in spring 2018, and the fact that it accounts for nearly half of our trade after such a short space of time is a phenomenal achievement.

“For a number of years, we recognised the potential and benefits of having a second deport in the North of England, and this has been justified because since we opened, it’s been like turning a tap on. We have become very busy, very quickly.

“Having market-leading products is half the story because our growth in the North is also down to the responsiveness of the team led by Branch Manager Terry Needham, who are focused on getting materials to customers as quickly as possible. Next-day deliveries to site are standard, but in some cases now, we’re doing same-day deliveries.”

As well as being a distribution hub for specialist materials delivered directly to sites and general products supplied to roofing and builders’ merchants, the depot in Huddersfield acts as an office for Flex-R’s sales, specification and technical support teams based in the North of England.

There are also classroom facilities so that Flex-R can train roofing contractors to become Specialist Registered Installers.

Cole added: “We have some products that can only be installed once roofers are trained – and until we opened in Huddersfield, contractors in the North had to come to High Wycombe. All that has changed, meaning it is now much easier and more convenient for roofers along the M62 corridor to come to us.

“Given the start we have made, we are very confident that our presence in Huddersfield will be the springboard for further growth.”