Poundworld benefits from ASG Services

Discount retailer Poundworld’s new West Yorkshire DC has been fitted-out with a wide range of products supplied by Warrington based ASG Services, the single-source provider of warehouse labelling, floor-marking and safety solutions.

The Challenge

Poundworld is one of the UK’s leading discount retailers and is owned by US private equity firm TPG. Operating under the Poundworld and Bargain Buys brand names, the business serves over two million customers and sells around 11 million products a week.

In 2017, Poundworld moved in to a purpose-built 524,000 sq ft national distribution centre (NDC) in Normanton, West Yorkshire. Following its construction stage, the multi-million-pound Normanton NDC required a range of equipment to bring it to an operational level, several aspects of which were to be bespoke to this particular facility.

The equipment and services required at this stage of the project included: racking location labels; internal shot-blast line marking; external line marking; external galvanised security cages; internal mesh cages; internal and external pedestrian and vehicle barriers; and supervisor workstation plinths.

With the client being a low-margin discount retailer, a particular challenge of the contract was to ensure the work was delivered within budget.

Probelm

Having worked together on a previous contract, supply chain consultant Hatmill Ltd again chose ASG Services to help deliver the required aspects of the fit-out to its client, Poundworld.

ASG has worked on projects of a similar scale for other retailers – including Next, Regatta, Co-Op and Ocado – and clearly demonstrated its ability to provide a variety of products from one company and install them within the given timescale.

I would absolutely work with ASG again. They ‘get’ what customers want, in terms of a one-stop shop, and they are very good at managing the customer relationship.

John Hayward Logistics and Supply Chain Consultant, Hatmill Ltd

“We are unique in what we provide,” says ASG’s Sales Director Chris Hopkirk. “No one else can provide such a range of labelling and safety products and services from one company. We make delivery of these easy for the customer.”

Hatmill’s logistics and Supply Chain Consultant John Hayward adds: “We invited ASG to tender for the job, and Chris Hopkirk and (UK Sales Manager) Andy Burns were by far the most proactive and attentive, and were also commercially keen. The key part behind our decision to award the business to ASG was their capability to provide a one-stop shop for the works involved.”

Outcome

Poundworld’s new NDC services its entire network of 350 retail stores across the UK. The job was completed on time, on budget, and to the customer’s satisfaction.

One of the more impressive aspects of the project was the installation of five bespoke observation plinths – designed and supplied by ASG – which offered supervisor colleagues a desking and IT solution whilst providing visibility across the shop floor.

Hopkirk says: “In order to demonstrate that we could deliver accurately and efficiently, we provided clear AutoCAD drawings of the scheme to allow the customer to fully understand the extent of the work involved.”

“They proved to be a good solution,” says Hayward, “and ASG worked well with our M&E contractors to ensure that the designs fitted in with capabilities in areas such as cable access. That was a really good piece of work. I would absolutely work with ASG again. They ‘get’ what customers want, in terms of a one-stop shop, and they are very good at managing the customer relationship.”

Hopkirk concludes: “A warehouse cannot be operational without those elements we designed and installed, and yet these critical aspects are often an afterthought. We would encourage anyone working on major projects such as this to save themselves time and money by talking to us – a company that has experience and expertise in advising and delivering the right labelling and safety solutions – early in the process. That way enables us to work seamlessly during the fit-out to help ensure the project is handed over to the client to their specified budget and timescale.”