A 13-year development partnership with one of the UK's leading independent builders merchants — building knowledge, skills and cultural DNA from yard to boardroom, through every acquisition, at every stage of growth.
One of the UK's largest independent builders merchants, with a network of branches serving trade customers across England. At the outset of the partnership, the business employed approximately 350 people across branch, counter, yard and management functions. Over 13 years — through sustained organic growth and a series of acquisitions — that figure grew to over 6,000 people.
The business held a deep and genuine belief that its people were its greatest commercial asset. It wanted to ensure that every person in the organisation — from counter staff to board directors — had the knowledge, skills and attitude to perform at the highest level and embody the company's values, beliefs and culture.
Sector: Retail / Trade / Distribution
Partnership length: 13 years
Training delivered: 10 days per month
Growth: 350 to 6,000+ people
Scope: Yard to boardroom
Geography: UK-wide, multi-site
Elevate Impact Training was initially engaged to deliver a Train the Trainer programme. The intention was to build internal training capability — equipping one person to deliver training to branch counter staff.
Within the first hour of that initial session, our consultant recognised that the challenge ran considerably deeper. The real risk was not the quality of the trainer — it was what would happen when that trainer moved on. If the managers surrounding branch staff did not have the right knowledge, skills and attitude in performance management, performance coaching, sales management, customer excellence and the builders merchant DNA around values, beliefs and culture — then training delivery would always produce weaker results than the business deserved.
When the Managing Director asked where to start, our recommendation was clear: you start at the top.
Development began at board level and cascaded through every tier of the organisation — Area Managers, branch management teams, counter staff, yard operatives and drivers. The emphasis throughout was not just on skills, but on the builders merchant DNA: the specific values, beliefs and commercial culture that made the business successful.
Board, Area Managers and branch management teams received structured management and leadership training — building the capability to lead performance, manage people effectively and sustain the company's culture through growth and change.
We helped the business develop a structured recruitment and selection process — ensuring that new hires at every level were assessed against the right competencies and aligned to the builders merchant culture from day one.
A systematic induction programme was developed — grounded in the reality of working in the builders merchant industry and designed to bring new employees into the DNA of the business quickly and effectively.
A structured appraisal system and performance management process was implemented — giving managers the tools and confidence to have meaningful development conversations at every level of the business.
Counter staff and sales teams received targeted sales training — including selling against the competition, trading and negotiation, and customer excellence programmes built around the reality of the builders merchant counter environment.
Throughout every programme, a consistent emphasis was placed on the builders merchant DNA — the specific values, beliefs and ways of working that defined the company's culture and needed to be sustained as the business grew through acquisition.
As the company grew through acquisition, the challenge became sustaining culture as well as capability. Every acquisition brought new sites, new teams and new management structures — each needing to be brought into the builders merchant values, beliefs and commercial approach.
Our team delivered all agreed management, leadership, sales and customer excellence programmes consistently across the growing network — with a specific and sustained emphasis on the DNA of the builders merchant throughout. The result was a business that could scale without losing the character and culture that made it commercially successful.
What sets this apart is that nothing is generic. Every session feels like it was written for us — because it was. The DISC profiling alone changed how our management team communicates.
Head of HR — UK Independent Builders MerchantCall 07544 534759 — we respond the same working day.
