The two opposing elements of water and electricity seem to work so well together such that plumbing and lighting always seem go hand in hand as a profession.
35 years ago, a company had been set up specialising only in providing plumbing services to ironmongeries and hardware stores, and it indeed had come as a natural progression of things that they had diversified 15 years after into providing electrical items to Malta and Gozo too.
The result of that move was “The Wholesaler”; a veritable one-stop shop for all things electrical, lighting, drainage and plumbing supplies.
Design & Build interviews Managing Director Mario Bugeja to find out more on this veteran organisation.
Nowadays you will find that Mario is managing the organisation with the firm assistance of his brother, and his father, the founder, has today taken on the role of mentor. The way Mario sees the changes to the local market over these past 35 years is that one has had to adapt to the changing times. The 2008 crisis was a case in point; though Malta did not succumb directly to it, his suppliers overseas did; especially so in Greece. The company had to learn how to be flexible and move on.
Today, he says, life is much easier….. in that you can’t really get it wrong, especially if you are connected to the construction business. He agrees with us that at the moment the worst thing that can happen to you it’s that you get it less right. “But one must aim for the best while preparing for the worst”. The concept of also introducing this new sector of lighting into our group was partly in response to facing this issue. When you have four sectors in play, if a sector were to ever experience a slow-down, improbable though this may be, or if there is any problem with a sector, you can still maintain a healthy momentum of growth via the other sectors.
“The Wholesaler had a lot of stores here and there and logically costs were sky-high”, explains Mario. To cut down all these costs, Mario felt that locating everything centrally in their Mriehel centre would enhance operations and logistics, and they we could also become far more operationally efficient. This thinking proved true and has allowed them to grow exponentially whilst maintaining a comfortable staff complement of 15 people. And today the company operates from its main commercial premises which cover over 500m.sq. and which are supported by over 1000m.sq. of workshops and warehouses.
Reliable speedy deliveries and efficient after sales service have ,also proved to be a major contributor to The Wholesaler’s growth.
As a result, The Wholesaler B.E.L. Group (as they are officially called) is today one of Malta’s leading companies specialising in the electrical and plumbing supplies section also thanks to their drive to meet its clients demands, and their product portfolio thus continuously and naturally expands to cater to customer requirements. The choice of quality material imported from world-renowned suppliers combined with competitive prices. Reliable speedy deliveries and efficient after sales service have also proved to be a major factor in the success of The Wholesaler.
ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS
We wondered how crucial it is to help lower electricity costs these days to both the consumer and to industry. Is there a real demand for buying equipment which reduces consumption? Mario reckons that “there are different reasons as to why everyone is requesting LEDs. These include hefty improvements in consumption, lifespan and also efficiency. And advancements and breakthroughs in lighting are now prevalent in the LED technology. So, my answer is a definite yes.” Mario recalls a time where LEDs were expensive but nowadays everything is LED-based … “in fact, we don’t sell anything but LED technology when it comes to lighting.”
Mario explained that spotlight and commercial requirements too are based predominantly on LEDs. “Nowadays LEDs are satisfying all replacements orders, including lamps for road lighting and sports grounds. Nowadays there’s an LED replacement for everything, for studios, events, conferences halls, theatres… LEDs have taken the world by storm.”
COMPETITION
Turning to the subject of competition in Malta, Mario readily acknowledges that there indeed is plenty of strong competition nowadays from other Maltese suppliers. “We also face competition from Italians that are based in Sicily. Our main advantage is efficiency coupled with beautiful quality. We make it a point to be on time with deliveries – a factor which our will and capacity to stock, strongly supported by the drive towards logistical efficiency – a mix of mental attitude and physical structure – makes it rather difficult to emulate. That we do this for the entire four sectors encompassing our product portfolio: plumbing and drains; electricity and lighting.. makes us into a highly efficient one-stop shop.
GUIDING CLIENTS
Mario explained that Wholesale Group trains their staff in how to guide customers as well as on the technical aspects of the business and its products. “We conduct bi-monthly in-house training, as well as updating sessions on new products.” These are also based on guides from their suppliers. He added that “we also regularly visit those fairs which are important to these industries so as to always have a firm understanding on fashion, trends and technologies.”
When prompted to share an instance on how their understanding has assisted their clientele, Mario recounted when a particular job had a time frame problem rather than an actual problem itself. “It was a restaurant which had an opening date that was set in stone and which was opening within days – they really had nothing ready yet. It’s true that we don’t do installations but for this particular customer we sent some of our team to get things going: monitor works and hastening up the process.” Mario smiled, adding that “needless to say, the works were completed in time and to our client’s complete satisfaction.”
SUPPLIERS
Mario Bugeja explained that their suppliers are mainly from Europe “also because we steer as clear as possible from Chinese supply both because of the need to buy in large quantities from them as well as due to the long shipping delivery periods. These two factors clash with our efficiency and philosophy. We want to be able to shift to updated products, to keep our flexibility and push the latest developments and trends, and buying in bulk obviously hinders this leanness, as does also long delivery periods. There have been instances wherein LED technology advanced well ahead while our competitors were still waiting for their bulk supply to berth into our ports.
we steer as clear as possible from Chinese supply both because of the need to buy in large quantities from them as well as due to the long shipping delivery periods
Mario explained that The Wholesaler vastly prefers dealing with those European suppliers who have store housing based in countries surrounding Malta.
CONCLUSION:
Ripple effects in business
A ripple effect in business is the notion that a single action has an effect over several different entities. When you drop a pebble in a pond, it creates a series of ripples that span out over the water to move surface plants around and disrupt the animals that may be on the water. In business, everyone needs to understand how the ripple effect can affect their business and how the actions taken may affect the businesses and people connected to one’s company.
In this interview we have also seen how conscious Mario Bugeja is of the utter importance of having every aspect of your business working as perfectly as possible, as otherwise one imperfection; one inefficient operational process; will inevitably adversely impact the entire project. Clearly Mario is also aware that the business climate and changes overseas can also indirectly affect the customer (who may receive a product that is not to his standards) and may not want to come back to the company for any additional service. We reckon that his philosophy and knowledge are bound to guarantee customer satisfaction!
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