2022 in review
It’s that time of the year where Smith Brothers reflect on what has been another successful year.
2022 saw Smith Brothers proudly celebrate our 125 years anniversary with origins dating back to 1897, when founder Walter Smith began to lay the foundations of what has become one of the largest independent merchants operating in the UK.
The business has transitioned significantly over our 125 years from manufacturing boilers for the shipping industry, to furnishing hundreds of mills built within Leicester and assisting with the war efforts, before finally focussing predominantly on piping and HVAC supplies as the market grew in the 1960’s.
Click here to learn more about our history and take a walk down memory lane.
SBS Southampton celebrated their own anniversary this year having opened their doors to customers 10 years ago!
The introduction of online ordering
Following the successful launch of our exclusive online customer portal www.sbsonline.net, 2022 saw the implementation of our online ordering module, enabling customers to view live stocking data by branch and place orders for delivery or collection.
Are you an existing SBS customer who doesn’t yet have access to our portal? Simply complete our online access form and start managing your SBS account at your convenience, even outside of business opening hours.
ISO 9001
As part of the continuing success and growth plans of the business, Smith Brothers partnered with BSI earlier this year to acquire and retain ISO 9001 status. ISO 9001 is the international Standard for Quality Management, meaning that specific processes within the business will be tweaked and aligned to meet the required standards.
Our ISO taskforce are continually monitoring and managing the quality across our business and identifying areas of improvement. They also conduct thorough inspections of the company’s written internal procedures, ensuring that what is stated in our practices are followed and aligns with the accreditation’s standards.
Learn more about how ISO 9001 will benefit the business, our customers and supplier by clicking here
Accolades
Smith Brothers were proud to be shortlisted amongst a range of categories at some of the industry’s most prestigious award recognition events, including: H&V News Awards, HVR Awards, BMN Awards and Construction Computing awards.
The business was also named in both the Top 200 companies in Leicestershire 2022 and the Top 500 companies in the East Midlands 2022. The lists based on turnover were compiled by researchers from the Business Schools at De Montfort, Derby and Nottingham Trent Universities and is supported by The East Midlands Chamber of Commerce.
New trading locations
SBS Cambridge, our 17th trading location opened their doors in January and will soon be celebrating their first year anniversary. Our path of sustainable expansion does not stop there with the announcement of SBS Dundee, our second Scottish branch being due to open early 2023.
Our sustainable branch expansion programme ensures that all new locations are carefully chosen with the right team, location and stock profile in place. Meaning that a branch can launch immediately and have an instant impact in the community.
Air Conditioning & Ancillary developments
Smith Brothers made a significant investment to expand our Air Conditioning offering in 2022 with the appointment of a new Head of ACR, Zach Wynne. Zach has worked diligently throughout the year to review our product catalogue and ensure each SBS branch has a dedicated internal and external ACR specialist to offer additional support to our customers.
Zach also oversaw the elimination of gas cylinder rental charges, which will not only have saved our customers money, but also significantly reduced the amount of time and resources required to process what are often large volumes of low value invoices – a major headache for our customers.
Smith Brothers also partnered with the industry renowned Midea. A partnership strategically devised taking customer feedback into account, ensuring it complements SBS’s existing air conditioning range and successful route to market, whilst ultimately offering more choice to our customers.
Please contact [email protected] for all ACR enquiries,
New Literature
It was a busy year for our Marketing team as we developed multiple pieces of key literature this year and work having already commenced on the design of a brand new Product Guide for 2023.
Download your digital copy clicking the links below:
Designed to give readers a better insight into the business including our ethos, history, distribution coverage and stock profile.
MLCP & Press-fit Systems brochure
Showcasing SBS’s exclusive MLCP and press-fit systems, focusing on their applications, available sizes, technical information, approvals, links to product demo’s with detailed case studies.
Air Con & Ancillary Engineers Guide v2
Contains essential technical information on the Daikin R32 Split and SkyAir range and associated ancillary product.
