Manufacturer And Retailer Of Domestic Water Softeners For Sale

Business description

Manufacturer and Retailer of Domestic Water Softeners and Drinking Water Systems

Built around a brand that has been in evidence in the domestic water treatment sector for over thirty years and under the control of the current Owners for the past few, this very successful Surrey based business, part of a wider operation embracing both the commercial and domestic sectors is a manufacturer, retailer and supplier of domestic water softeners, drinking systems and filters.
Supplying direct to the end user and the wholesale trade – most of the major retail plumbing outlets are key accounts, locally and nationally via its excellent e-commerce site, this business offers the widest range of equipment, buying the individual components in and building systems to meet specific customer requirements.
This business is one of the largest retailers of the highest quality water softener on the market today backed-up with guarantees of first class technical and service support. Also included within the range are under sink drinking water systems, Reverse Osmosis systems, under sink water coolers as well as a full range of replacement filters, cartridges and accessories. Most systems can be installed by the competent DIY’er however this business also offers a nationwide sub-contracted installation service. A very important contributor to turnover and profitability is water softener and swimming pool salt – a very well known brand which this business buys in bulk, repackages and sells via regular rounds in the southern home counties, delivering by carrier for orders placed for delivery further afield.
The cornerstone to the success of this business is the very highest levels of customer service it provides. With so many different systems available, this business is conscientious in guiding its customers through the buying process and ensuring customers know about all the options that are available to them, ensuring they purchase exactly the right system to meet their requirements. As a result this business can boast a very high percentage sales conversion rate from enquiry and perhaps not surprisingly, has tripled its turnover in the past five years.
With sales revenue for the financial year ending December 2008 of approximately £250,000 - £65,000 of which is accounted for by repeat sales of salt, generating gross margins of approximately £100,000 and a pre-tax net operating profit of approximately £55,000 this represents an excellent opportunity to acquire a well established, expanding business in one of the UK’s fastest growing sectors and should be particularly attractive to an existing operator within the sector looking to expand their market penetration.






Key strengths:

The cornerstone to the success of this business is the personal service this business offers. It has an excellent reputation in the domestic marketplace through a brand that is very well established having been visible in the marketplace for nearly thirty years.

This is very much a people oriented organisation. As well as being highly trained, the employees of this organisation are highly motivated to deliver the levels of service that sets this business apart from the competition. This business believes in understanding customer requirements and providing the most appropriate system to meet them. Good supplier relationships coupled with an in-depth knowledge of products available in the marketplace enables this business to develop a range of options for every situation. In-house build guarantees quality at a very competitive price.

This business is building an increasingly impressive customer base and enjoys a high level of customer recommendation, testimony to the excellent reputation this business has built over the years of its operation.

By the very nature of the operation, on-going income can often far outstrip that from the initial sale of a system – representing a relatively predictable income stream for several years to come from salt sales for water softeners, for example.

Key opportunities:

There is an outstanding opportunity to build on the existing products, services and customer base of this company. With a strong demand for its products and services combined with a capacity to increase turnover, a new owner contributing fresh ideas and investment in resources will have every advantage of building on an excellent platform.

This business is operating in a very fast growing sector. More and more households previously consuming increasingly expensive bottled mineral water are fast switching to under-sink drinking water systems. Advertising campaigns communicating the problems associated with hard water and the build up of limescale encourage the uptake of water softeners. More and more homeowners are installing swimming pools and spas in their gardens. All of these markets are targets for the products of this business. Following an installation there are on-going requirements for salt, replacement filters etc - who better to pick up this business than the original supplier of the equipment.

The owners of this business have invested a large amount of time and money in creating dedicated websites to offer potential and existing customers the most extensive range of products available within the market. As well as sales to domestic customers through this medium there is significant scope to increase sales via the trade where orders when placed are frequently of significant volume.

There can be no doubt that the greatest value from an acquisition of this business will be from within the trade sector – from an existing operator able to fully maximise the economies of scale of integrating this business with their existing operation.

Financial information:

The business is offered for sale as a going concern. All financial discussions will take place directly between the vendor and all interested parties under the auspices of Turner Butler.

Turnover for the financial year ending December 2008 was approximately £250,000 with gross profits of approximately £100,000 and pre-tax net operating profits of approximately £55,000.

The Asking Price of £175,000 is for a sale of the goodwill and assets in the business excluding stock which will be available in addition to the Asking Price. Stock levels are consistently held at or around £20,000.

Property information

Property:

Leasehold

Location:

Currently part of a business also servicing the commercial sector, this business will need to be re-located.

Other information

Competition / Market:

This business has concentrated its marketing efforts most recently on e-commerce via a very well designed, informative and easy to navigate website, which performs very well in all the major search engines for all appropriate search topics through very effective use of search engine optimisation techniques supported in the past by sponsored adwords. Apart from this, the business has little or no need for heavy investment in marketing, able to rely on the strong word of mouth recommendation it enjoys within the industry and repeat sales of systems to the trade and the sale of salt, filters etc to the domestic market. Having been established within the industry for over thirty years its name is very well established and its excellent reputation for offering the right solution to meet the Client’s needs, its competitive prices and high levels of Customer Service are sufficient to ensure that it receives constant customer referrals.

Support & training:

The current owners of the business will provide full business familiarisation, training and handover to ensure a smooth transition to new owners as appropriate.

Reasons for selling:

The current owners of the business wish to concentrate their efforts exclusively on the commercial sector.