hope construction materials first firm in the concrete industry to introduce a price discrimination approach to ordering . The ‘ A New Way of Working ’ initiative is a bold tactic to encourage customers to plan ahead by offering price incentives for booking in advance . The approach also helps ensure quality is maintained throughout the delivery process .
“ We ’ ve also been able to launch a number of sustainability initiatives and in 2014 we ’ ll bring them under one umbrella ”
Q . What were / are the challenges of entering the materials market and your first year in business ? As a new company of this size it was always going to be difficult to have things running smoothly from day one . We launched from a standing start and had to galvanise a substantial workforce ( at the time 800 people ), many of whom were from different backgrounds , to get behind the newlylaunched Hope brand and everything it stands for .
Similarly when acquiring more than 180 sites it is logical to expect that not all of them will be functioning as efficiently as they could be and so it has taken time to analyse our operations and ways in which we can maximise efficiency . Our IT systems were also disparate and we have spent significant time working to create and launch a new system which allows us to do business as effectively as possible .
As a new company which has overcome all of these kinds of issues , we feel able to rewrite a few of the rules for how a firm in this sector should behave towards its customers , stakeholders and employees . We are well positioned to seize the opportunities which come our way , such as listening to customers and launching innovations in service , something our customers say we ’ re doing well .
We ’ ve also been able to launch a number of sustainability initiatives and in 2014 we ’ ll bring them under one umbrella which is something we ’ re particularly proud of as a forwardthinking business .
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