Hawco partners with independents

UK: Although known traditionally as an oem supplier, Hawco has begun to target contractors by making products available through a number of independent trade counters.

The Surrey-based distributor has already partnered with Refrigeration Equipment Wholesale Ltd (REWL) of Manchester, AFR Refrigeration of London and Pentland Wholesale of Blackburn. Each of the independents has extended its product range to include leading brands like Advanced Engineering, Alco Controls, Aspen Pumps, Carel, Daikin, Eliwell, Embraco, Hitachi, LAE Electronic, LG, Marstair and Pump House.

With a large number of UK supermarket chains now specifying and designing-in Hawco products, the same-day availability of those products is seen as key to the company’s future success. This latest move is designed to enable contractors to access Hawco’s products within hours rather than days.

“One of our biggest challenges historically has been competing with the UK’s growing network of national trade counters,” commented Hawco sales director Chris Hodges on the company’s website. “As a business that operates from a single 25,000ft² warehouse in Bolton, we’ve had to offer a combination of outstanding customer service, technical support, bespoke stocking solutions and next-day delivery to ensure customer loyalty and repeat business.”

Describing the move as a massive opportunity, Hawco product manager Barry Green said “Perhaps better known for our involvement with OEMs, the challenge now is to mirror that reputation among aftermarket contractors. Without our own network of trade counters we’re going to have to get creative, but with this latest scheme already taking shape we’re certainly one to watch.”

All independent trade counter partners and their customers’ are being given access to Hawco’s technical support and point-of-sale marketing material.

Hawco is also planning a number of technical workshops alongside compressor manufacturer Embraco and heat exchanger manufacturer Lu-Ve.