Double glazing entrepreneur John Armstrong is not one to stand still and is always looking for a fresh business challenge.
Having already built up his Coventry-based business, U-fit.co.uk, which specialises in ‘do-it-yourself’ conservatories across the UK, he has launched a new nationwide trade dealership idea called V4M (Value for Money).
Mr Armstrong is urging firms nationwide to act as exclusive dealerships to sell and distribute supply-only upvc products, operating in different areas of the country under the V4M banner to customers who order over the internet.
Each dealership will have its own website where private and trade customers will be able to log on and place specific orders without having to speak to anyone. Customers will also be able to obtain online quotes, order and download conservatory base plans and 3D drawings.
Firms that join the scheme as dealerships will decide what they want to sell and will set their own prices on their own individual websites.
The V4M service will filter business leads to its network of dealerships, the first of which has already been launched in Tamworth, Staffordshire (www.v4mmidlands.co.uk), and Mr Armstrong is confident he will be able to establish 25 to 30 regional dealerships in England and Wales in the future.
Mr Armstrong is now looking for dealers in Banbury, Basingstoke, Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Chester, Crawley, Derby, Guilford, High Wycombe, Ipswich, Isle Of Wight, Kidderminster, Kings Lynn, Leeds, Lincoln, Liverpool, Maidstone, Manchester, Norwich, Oxford, Peterborough, Portsmouth, Reading, Sheffield, Slough, Southampton, Stevenage, Stoke, Swindon, Telford and Worcester.
Internally beaded windows and doors will be manufactured and supplied, unglazed, for dealerships to sell in their own exclusive area under the V4M banner to trade, DIY, builders or anyone else needing upvc products. In addition modular conservatories with more than 400 sizes available will also be offered.
Deliveries will be made to dealerships once a week and they will be able to process orders using V4M office software which will also generate invoices for customers.
Mr Armstrong, who set up his first company, U-fit.co.uk in Holbrooks, Coventry, eight years ago with wife Ann said he was looking for a fresh challenge in the industry and came up with the V4M idea in response to changing trends in how people want to buy double glazing. He also said the V4M approach could boost business for other double glazing firms around the country who join as dealers, while saving customers money.
Mr Armstrong said: "V4M is a new concept and we have launched the first dealership in Tamworth. Business traffic will be diverted to the local dealership where customers will be able to obtain instant quotes as well as order over the phone.
"It will be a convenient and cost effective one stop shop for customers who will be able to obtain online quotes, order and download conservatory base plans and 3D drawings. V4M is limited to a simple range of designs to keep things simple and cost effective and it will ultimately help customers save money."
His enthusiasm for the scheme has been mirrored by Paul Gibbs who is heading up the first V4M dealership in Tamworth.
Mr Gibbs said: "I thought it was a cracking idea to sell windows to the public and trade over the internet. If you want something made to measure, that’s exactly what we can provide and customers can do everything on line."
The logistics and economics of establishing regional V4M dealerships also convinced Mr Armstrong to pursue the idea.
"In the last year we have noticed that there has been a growing trend for UPVC quotes on our existing websites," he said.
"We get upwards of 150 enquiries a day for windows and 200 a day for conservatories. Our problem has been if one of those enquiries is in Bristol for example, and it’s for a kitchen window, the economics of it would be like taking a lump of coal to Newcastle."
"The V4M concept will allow our dealers to sell to these kinds of customers as they will go to their local dealership. V4M has massive potential as a multiple distribution channel and I feel it could change the way people buy their windows and conservatories.
"I’m confident our initial dealership in Staffordshire will prove to be a huge success and look forward to developing a number of V4M dealerships throughout England and Wales.
"If it proves to be as successful as U-fit has been over the past eight years I will be absolutely delighted."
For more information contact John Armstrong on 024 7668 6682.
For more information, please contact:
Andy Hutson, Public Relations Consultant
Tel: 01788 578510/07791 159863
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