THE STORY OF
HOTEL BUYER
Many businesses are created out of necessity, and Hotel Buyer is a classic example. In founder Jon Shepherd’ s case, the opportunity was too great, too pressing, to ignore.
During 15 years supplying technological solutions to the hotel sector, Jon found himself he was helping to fulfil an everwider set of requirements. Requests in the form of“ Could you source …?” or“ Do you know anybody who can supply us with …?” appeared regularly. Hotel Buyer was born four years ago to address this supply gap.
Over the years, the business has proved itself to be a touchstone of procurement can-dos, with clients discovering they can cross off every item on their shopping lists with a single visit.
The founding principle was to provide the broadest range of goods, at the highest level of availability. Then, as now, the range continues to expand, creating a veritable one-stop-shop, taking in everything from toiletries to kitchen machinery.
Perhaps one the best measures of Hotel Buyer’ s success is its selection of toiletries. Early on in the business’ s lifetime, Jon spotted a trend for hotels replacing their high-end branded shampoos, soaps and shower gels with lower-cost luxurious alternatives. Today, Hotel buyer offers over 40 ranges of toiletries, including upmarket favourites such as Baylis & Harding and Duck Island. Part of the appeal is the larger range of amenities available in these ranges, while still enjoying lower overall costs.
A good example was when one hotel calculated it had saved in the region of £ 40,000 per year by switching to their Aqua Viva 300ml Pump Bottle, and using 5 litre refills. What previously cost the business £ 6 per litre of product was reduced to a mere £ 2 per litre!
Meanwhile, personalised toiletries have proved to be an increasingly popular. The demand for elegant, self-branded shampoos and shower gels has always been there, of course. Until recently, however, the high minimum quantities, even higher costs and long lead times meant the barriers of entry to smaller boutique hotels were correspondingly lofty. Solving this issue, Hotel Buyer can now offer these establishments their own range of fully artworked bath and shower essentials, in quantities of as low as 200, in a little over a week – bringing this delightful touch of luxury within reach of all hotels.
As for the business’ growth, Jon puts it down to old-fashioned business values.“ We set out to deliver a quality service at reasonable prices”, he said.“ We treat all our customers with equal reverence, no matter how small or large the hotel or what star rating of hotel they operate.
“ We do what we say we will do, when we say we’ ll do it. That mentality is instilled in our entire team, and I believe that is the formula for long-term success.”.
www. hotel-buyer-store. co. uk
34 Housekeeping management