3 Line Electrical Norwich opened in 2013 when the company expanded into that part of East Anglia after initially starting the business in Newmarket. It quickly established itself within the city and has consistently grown year on year to its current size employing 14 staff. It covers the whole of Norfolk and has been 3 Line’s largest branch for the last three years.
The branch has built itself by dealing with as many customers as possible and now consistently trades with between 220 and 240 live accounts per month. Norwich trades with many different customer types and these include everything from small electrical contractors (the lifeblood of the business) to larger contractors. They also trade with a nationwide farming procurement organisation, housing associations, engineering companies, hospitals, breweries etc all the way down to the DIY enthusiast.
They have a very busy trade counter which they have recently refurbished themselves. Their three vans cover the whole of Norfolk on a daily basis and regularly have over 40 deliveries per day on each vehicle.
The branch lives up to our strap line of “People delivering value” and their staff have a wealth of electrical knowledge and experience, one of whom has been in the industry for more than 40 years. They are highly trained, dedicated to customer service and genuinely want to help. Norwich branch has a great strength in commercial and industrial lighting and this knowledge and experience has helped them obtain many large lighting projects. The customers in the local area know that they can trust the branch to come up with lighting designs and solutions for many types of different installations. They also have the respect and confidence of our main lighting suppliers and are consistently the largest purchaser within 3 Line for these companies.
Having three external Sales Executives has played a key part in the branch’s development and this has helped it to grow good working relationships with a wide range of business types. All customers both big and small are valued and the Sales Executives enable the team to keep regular face to face contact with all of the accounts they trade with. This has been key in the partnership between the customers and the branch. One of their Sales Executives originally joined as a storeman and progressed through to the external sales role. His drive and desire coupled with the backing, training and motivation of the Branch Manager and the rest of the team, not only helped him to be our most successful Sales Executive to date, but also earned him the opportunity to become our newest Branch Manager taking over the reigns of our Ipswich branch which opened in 2018.
3 Line Norwich have helped the company obtain approved supplier status with PFH (Procurements for Homes) and have the highest performance rating for any electrical supplier for the two large housing associations that they supply. They have maintained this level for over four years now and it is a measure of their service levels that they have managed to remain the number one supplier in the face of very stiff competition from other potential suppliers.
They hold a bi-annual trade show which is very well supported by the suppliers who willingly give their support to the show due to the level of business that the branch generates. It is also very well attended by the customer base and 2018’s event attracted over 100 different account holders. Everyone enjoyed the event and commented on the mix of different suppliers who promoted their products, the on the day promotions, the hospitality on offer from the staff and the giant Wii which kept everyone entertained. The trade show took place from 2.00pm until 10.00pm in glorious sunshine and they even managed to get the marquees down before a late night summer thunderstorm hit – the sun always shines on the righteous!
The branch sponsors a local youth football team and the Taverham Brass Band. They were also at the forefront of the 3 Line St George’s Day promotion which raised funds for the Help for Heroes charity.
Their hard work and the support they obtained from suppliers and customers alike helped the company raise a £750 donation to this worthy cause.
Norwich branch have built a very firm foundation by the way they have grown their business. It is not reliant upon one large customer or based around chasing one large order each month. They spread their load and offer a high level of service to a large number of trading accounts. This is not easy and delivers all sorts of issues especially workload – more invoices raised, more phones to answer, more orders to pick, more deliveries to despatch and most importantly more customers to keep happy. They do this consistently, month after month and the branch is always busy. It is a credit to the manager and his team that they manage to consistently deliver excellent service and continue to grow each year.