When a five -generation family firm needed to pep up sales it was
the boss's wife who put sparkle back into its Profits.
Sue Rodwell has helped 162-year-old Rodwells - a one-stop shop
distributor for the licence trade -- develop a new wine merchant
division and add £1 million on turnover since joining the company
six years ago.
"The Wine side has exploded and moved the company forward -
it is now 20 per cent of our business," says marketing Director Sue,
47, who used to run hotels. Her husband, managing director asked
her to come in after the company struggled through the mid-90's
recession but was clearly in modernising and some fresh fresh ideas
if it was to stay competitive.
After being around for so many years, Rodwells based in Tring,
Hertfordshire, has become expert at finding ways to move with the times. First it was a brewer; then a soft drinks manufacturer - this side is now carried out under licence and is currently a distributor of drinks, hampers and snacks to hotels, restaurants, pub and clubs as well as an increasing number of corporate clients and events in a 45~mile radius.
After overseeing the introduction of a Computer system Sue turned to her great passion: wine. Faced with a marketplace awash with chardonnays, and supermarkets carrying ever bigger ranges, her first and biggest challenge was to find a niche.
She says: "It was no good trying to compete on size so the answer was to go the exclusive route - to offer wines no one was importing.We found it was the thing people wanted -- an extra feature for a restaurant, or something memorable to offer wedding guests.
"The corporate side has grown with the wine. People tend to drink more at home these days so the licensed trade is not developing as it used to."
Sue started with 25 Wines on her list but now has 300 from across the world, distributing nationwide with tasting's and themed evenings as regular features. As the only woman director of the exclusive National Wine Buying Group, she is responsible for seeking out the latest gems from Chile, home of her favourite vineyards.
After five years in rented premises, the company made another major commitment to the future by moving to a purpose-built 20,000 sq ft warehouse and
offices in 2003. Backed by a £250,000 Barclays loan, this takes recent investment to more than £500,000. The new depot has increased effiCIency and proved the year' of detailed planning beforehand was worth every moment.
"We moved the stock during one weekend, it was incredible teamwork," says Peter, 48, who manages the day-to-day operation. His family has always stressed that staff are people, not numbers, and the company is committed to its non-contributory pension for its 28-strong team.
Employment continuity moves from one generation to the next: one member is in his 47th year with the firm
Customer service figures high in the company's strategy and the 24-hour delivery pledge has helped it score over bigger, cheaper rivals.
"Low prices are worthless if delivery isn't on time," adds Peter. "We do our utmost to source every order or respond to any emergency."
Working with her husband has turned out better than Sue could have hoped.
"In me," she says, "he has a sounding board and sometimes he totally trusts, yet we hardly see each other at work. We stick to our territories. I'm the one with the big plans, it's his job to be cautious."
The couple are still relatively young but the sixth generation of Rodwells may not be far away - daughter Sarah and son James are both business students.
