After 21 years in business, EPE International is the UK’s leading distributor of Small Domestic Appliances (SDA). It is a great market position to be in, but the company CEO, Noel Pamment is surprisingly straightforward about how EPE did it.
“We are a distribution business – it is pretty simple,” he tells us. “That is what are we about. We buy a box, we put something special in the box, and we pass it on. What separates us is our passion for the industry and our passion for the product with a true commitment to serving retailers. We love to get the job done. We make sure the retailers we serve are going to keep coming back. We build long-standing relationships. That is who we are as a business.”
Since it was founded EPE International has been a family-run business, and part of being a family-run business is caring about the customer.
“We really have the customers and retailers in mind,” Pamment says. “We are personal in how we run the business. There are two owners, me and [Managing Director] Harry Singh, and we both work in key roles in the business. We are passionate about what we do, and anyone who meets us can see that passion.”
Handpicked Brands
The relationships that EPE International fosters have proven essential to surviving an unprecedented period of crises and upheavals.
“Like most businesses in March 2020, we saw the world seem to stop,” Pamment recalls.
At that time, EPE International was a business focused almost entirely on the distribution of branded products in the UK, but the majority of those brands shut up shop when lockdown began. But as we all remember, business would go on to rapidly pick up.
“Business stopped overnight then overshot to sales we could never have predicted,” Pamment says. “It was a big catalyst of change for us. Once stock sold out, we could not get any more, so we had to adapt.”
Since Covid, EPE International has focused on working with only a few key brands that offer innovation, clear consumer benefits, and competitive pricing. The company has changed its entire overview of distribution in the UK. The brands that helped EPE through the crisis period are also the brands that EPE International supports today.
“Firms such as Spectrum Brands were really good with us, they worked with us, but others disappeared,” Pamment says. “We had to completely change our business model and four years later we are just now coming out of that process. We are coming from a strong, positive base of suppliers.”
A New Path
Today EPE International has an Exclusive Agreement with Hamilton Beach and Rediffusion brands. It has not been an easy journey and has at times required having tough conversations with business owners, but the firm has found a new path.
“You have to change your mentality,” Pamment insists. “What is a business measured on? Everyone looks at the size of the business, or how much money it makes, and that is part of it. But it is also about the people. It is about all the people you are interacting with every day. Your staff and your customers. Because the bigger you get, the less personal your business becomes. You have to constantly remind yourself what you went into business for and what you want to get from it. You want to create value, and you also want everyone in that value chain to benefit.”
It is an approach that has taken EPE International into the “Top 1,000 Companies in the UK to Inspire Britain” in 2018 and 2020, and the firm was almost unique on that list for its turnover.
“They looked at all the types of business we do, our accounts, our balance sheet and twice now we’ve featured in the list,” says Pamment. “There are companies ten times our size in our sector that have not been recognised this way. What matters is that you do a good job and that you will come back and keep doing a good job.”
The Benefits of an Open Mind
For a business to transform itself, its people have to embrace new thinking, and finding the right people is essential.
“We employ people with an open mind who are willing to learn and be open to feedback and change when necessary,” Pamment says. “We want our people to know that what they do has the power to change the business in a positive way. When people are able to have that effect on a business, amazing things happen.”
Over the years Pamment has seen plenty of people grow through the business through a willingness to take on new challenges.
“As the business moves forward those people are part of that journey not because they are getting dragged along, but because they want to be part of something,” Pamment points out. “I am really proud of all my staff. Is it challenging at times, of course, but we have a great environment as a family-orientated company that is fair with its people.”
Pamment’s vision for the future of EPE International is for the company to keep building stronger bonds with its customers and brand partners.
“We want to become THE partner of choice for our customers and our brand partners. By applying simple rules: consistency, adapting swiftly to market shifts and focus on growing partnerships” says Pamment.
It is a vision that will involve growth, but Pamment insists that growth in and of itself is not the point.
“Size doesn’t matter,” he says. “We all have these dreams about making a bigger business, but the reality is that it can cause you to lose touch with the most important person, which is the customer. I still get that buzz from talking to customers and getting orders. It feels amazing. What do you want to be measured on as a business? We want to be measured by how well we looked after our customers, because without them, nothing happens.”
