Nick Firth talks to us about his time at Cable Services and the importance of working as one team. In addition he also goes on to discuss:
⚡ Investment in employees and CRM Systems
⚡ Talking about our longstanding partnerships
⚡ Adding value to our supply chain
⚡ Supporting our customer needs when we launched Cable Training Service
One team across six branches
Working as one team is more than a soundbite here. Cable Services was founded in Wrexham back in 1971, and the group has since grown to six branches across the UK – Wrexham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Stone, Swindon and Guildford – supplying low, medium and high voltage cable and cable accessories to the utility, industrial, rail and renewable energy sectors. A group of that size only works when sales, technical, warehouse and training teams all pull in the same direction, and that is the culture Nick talks about in the interview above: knowledge shared freely between branches, so the customer gets the right answer whichever door they knock on.
Investing in people and systems
Investment at Cable Services takes more than one form. There is investment in employees – building the product knowledge and technical expertise that lets the team give customers accurate answers quickly – and investment in the systems behind them, including the CRM tools that help us understand customer requirements and respond to them consistently across the group. As Nick explains, the two go hand in hand: good systems make good people more effective, and neither works without the other.
Partnerships that add value
Nick also discusses the longstanding partnerships that sit at the heart of the business. Many of our relationships with key manufacturers stretch back decades, and they allow us to do far more than simply move boxes – from technical guidance on product selection through to supporting customers on site. Being a genuine specialist in a focused range of products was our founder Joe Williams’ vision from day one, and it remains the reason customers come to us when the answer matters.
Cable Training Services
One of the clearest examples of adding value to the supply chain is the launch of Cable Training Services, the group’s dedicated training arm. With a purpose-built 3,000 square foot facility at our Wrexham head office and a second facility at our Glasgow branch, the team delivers product familiarisation courses across low, medium and high voltage jointing and termination systems – supported by authorised trainers from our key supply partners, and aligned to the requirements of the individual DNOs.
Supporting customers, whatever the need
Whether it is quick-turnaround cable cutting, technical advice on a jointing system, or training arranged at short notice so a project can stay on programme, the thread running through everything Nick describes is the same: understand what the customer actually needs, then organise the group’s resources around delivering it. It is an approach that has kept customers coming back for more than fifty years, and one we have no intention of changing.
If you would like to talk to Nick or the team about how Cable Services can support your next project, get in touch through our contact page – and keep an eye on the blog for more interviews with the people behind the group.