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Supplier Feature
Creating confidence together: helping customers build with confidence
There is a bigger opportunity in our industry than any one business can unlock alone.
MANUFACTURERS have products, innovation and specialist expertise. Merchants have reach, relationships and a real understanding of their customers. Bring those strengths together and we can help customers make better decisions, navigate change and ultimately create demand.
That feels particularly relevant right now. Construction is becoming more complex. Sustainability requirements are increasing, regulations are changing and customers need greater assurance and guidance around performance, compliance and specification.
They don’ t just need more choice. They need confidence that they’ re making the right choice.
At Marshalls Group, we think manufacturers and merchants have an important role to play in creating that confidence together. It’ s the thinking behind creating confidence together, and it’ s a conversation we want to bring to next year’ s BMF All-Industry Conference.
Products with purpose
For us, creating confidence together has two meanings.
It reflects the breadth of Marshalls Group and the expertise we have across different parts of the built environment. But more importantly, it’ s about what we can do with that capability when we work closely with our merchant partners.
Merchants know their customers and their local markets. They understand the questions they’ re being asked and the challenges customers are facing on the ground.
We can support that with manufacturing capability, innovation, technical expertise and knowledge across areas including sustainability and regulation.
Together with our merchant partners, that puts us in a stronger position to help customers specify confidently, build smarter and achieve better outcomes.
Innovation is part of that, of course. But the value isn’ t in launching new products for the sake of it. It’ s in developing products and solutions that respond to what customers actually need.
In Landscaping, for example, the Origins Collection ® and new porcelain ranges are giving merchants more choice to meet changing customer demand, while Active Travel solutions respond to the changing
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requirements of our public spaces.
CarbonStep ® technology addresses another growing consideration, helping customers choose lower-carbon concrete paving while maintaining the performance they need.
We’ re seeing the same principle elsewhere in the Group, from the upgraded Darlstone walling offer and new manhole safety covers through to Marley’ s new 445W Marley SolarTile.
They’ re very different products, but ultimately, they’ re there to do the same thing: solve a problem or help a customer build for the future.
Making the complicated simpler
Products are only one part of it.
Increasingly, the value manufacturers can provide is in the expertise and assurance that sits behind them.
For merchants, who are often the first place customers turn for advice, having easy access to good information matters. It can mean answering a question more quickly, helping a customer understand their options or giving them greater confidence in a specification or product choice.
We’ re investing in that in different ways across our Group.
Marley’ s online technical tools bring NBS specifications, fixing specifications, estimating and solar configuration together, making it easier for customers to access and manage technical information.
Marshalls Landscaping’ s MyAccount is making day-to-day interactions simpler, while our teams continue to provide practical support to merchants through areas such as merchandising and pointof-sale.
There’ s also the question of trust in the information itself, particularly with products that make up the building envelope. Marley was among the early businesses to commit to the Code for Construction Product Information( CCPI), with its solar panels and JB Red roofing battens achieving registration.
These aren’ t necessarily the things that attract the biggest headlines. But they make a difference to how easily and confidently customers can make decisions.
Helping customers get ahead
We also have an opportunity to work together to help customers prepare for what’ s coming next.
The Future Homes Standard is a good example. As housebuilding moves towards greater use of solar technology, customers will need to understand what that means in practice. Marley has been sharing guidance around the changes and providing solar installation training at its Burton facility for merchants and roofing contractors.
For us, that’ s a good example of where the manufacturer and merchant relationship can add real value.
We can share what we’ re seeing around regulation, technology and product development. Merchants can tell us what they’ re hearing from customers and where they need more support.
That exchange helps all of us prepare earlier and gives customers better answers when they need them.
Creating confidence together
That’ s really the opportunity we see in creating confidence together.
Marshalls can bring the breadth of the Group: our products, people, manufacturing capability, technical knowhow and innovation. Merchants bring reach, relationships, local knowledge and an understanding of what their customers need.
We want to connect those strengths more effectively. Not simply to sell more products, but to make it easier for customers to understand their options, respond to change and make decisions with confidence.
At next year’ s BMF All-Industry Conference, we want to hear where merchants are seeing customer needs change, where complexity is increasing and where manufacturers like us can do more to help.
We certainly won’ t have all the answers. But by sharing what we know and listening to what our merchant partners are seeing on the ground, we think there’ s an opportunity to create more value together.
At Marshalls, we believe building tomorrow’ s world starts with what we can create together today.
At next year’ s BMF All-Industry Conference, we’ re looking forward to continuing that conversation.
Proud Headline sponsor of the BMF All-Industry Conference