Electrical wholesaler ERF has appointed Andy Laycock as its new Managing Director to drive the company’s next phase of digitalisation and growth.
The scheduled transition is part of a two-year plan, with Robin Combellack being appointed Chief Executive Officer.
In his new role, Combellack will continue to play a crucial part in the business, despite handing over the day to day management of the company.
Laycock has been with the Nottingham-based, family owned company for 15 years, working as Sales Director. He said: “A new era, shaped by the ongoing pandemic is emerging, and it’s one in which we will drive growth and customer service levels forward through digitalisation, whilst at the same time continuing to embrace the importance of personal relationships throughout our entire supply chain.”
Combellack said: “Andy has the company’s interests ingrained in him. He played a major role in writing and embedding our core values into the business. Fifteen years of working together along with two years of planning mean we have every confidence Andy will expand the business and allow me to work on the group and our strategy.”
As part of the growth strategy to keep ERF at the forefront of the independent wholesaling market, the company will also launch ERF online – a full ecommerce platform which will allow customers to trade online 24/7.
The company, which has 12 branch locations, has continually invested into the digitalisation of the business in recent years. This has seen it adopt a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system ensuring ERF can utilise the benefits of cloud technology. As part of this development, a new customer relationship management (CRM) package will launch later this month as well.
ERF have also further invested in their commercial fleet, with brand new rapid response pick-up trucks operating from each location. As the industry’s working hours extend, so does ERF’s infrastructure and service offering for their customers.
