Meet Our Employees - The Purchasing Team (July 2018)
Georgia is relatively new to working at FixFirm having joined the company in July 2017.
Her main role at FixFirm is ensuring our stock items are purchased at the right time based on our current stock levels as well as new customer orders.
This is a very important role for FixFirm, as on a typical day we can order up to 100 new separate orders and it is Georgia's job to make sure the operation of this is as smooth as possible for both our customers and our own staff.
In her spare time, Georgia likes going to the gym, socialising with friends and frequently visits music festivals.
Projects we have recently supplied (July 2018)
FixFirm are pleased to have recently supplied products and equipment to some of the following prestigeous projects, via a wide range of different types of sub-contractors.
- North Sea Observatory in Skegness
- Chimpanzee Enclosure, Twycross Zoo
- JCB Golf Academy, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire.
Keep an eye out on our Social Media pages for future projects that FixFirm find ourselves invloved with.
Facebook: click here
LinkedIn: click here
Twitter: click here
Write a Google Review about FixFirm and Stand the Chance to win £50 (July 2018)
FixFirm love receiving your feedback on how we can improve our service to you!
During July and August we are offering the chance for you to win £50 if you review us on Google Review.
In order to do this please Google ‘FixFirm’ and click the ‘Write a Review’ button on the right hand side of the screen.
In order to use this service, you will need to use your existing Google email account.
If you do not have one, please click here to register for one.
Winners of the Feedback draw will be announced via email on 31.08.2018.
Improved Customer Service Standards and our 5 Star Service Promise (July 2018)
As we outlined in version 2 of fixfirmnews (October 2017) through ‘Internal Approaches to Improve our Customer Service’, we have recently implemented a new customer service attainment standard with regards to our phone answer times.
On a weekly basis, we monitor the percentage of calls answered within 3 rings and we are delighted to announce that this figure has been above 90% for the past 3 weeks.
As part of the wider picture of our customer service standards intentions, we have introduced a '5 Star Service Promise' to our customers..... The content of our new corporate video will outline these promises and how we can achieve them.
The video will focus on 5 new promises on how FixFirm are Personal, Knowledgable, provide Process Linkage, Flexible and Responsive.
Keep an eye on our website for their release soon!
A Special Thank you and Farewell to Selina Sutherland (July 2018)
We would also like to take this opportunity to inform you of a change that has taken place at FixFirm with regards to our staff.
Selina Sutherland, who had worked in our Business Development team since May 2015, has left the business to work in Bulgaria during the Summer months.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Selina for her hard work over the past three years and wish her every success.
No doubt we will hear how your travels were when you get back to the UK!
Last Month's Charity Winner (July 2018)
In our last newsletter, we asked you to nominate a charity of your choice to win the chance of receiving a £50 donation from FixFirm.
In order to qualify for this, customers had to Like or Follow Us on one of our social media sites and specify the name of their charity on the relevant post.
Many thanks to all of you that contributed - The winning charity was Carers Resource as nominated Sam Athersmith of J N Bentley.
Carers’ Resource provides support for carers, no matter what their age, race, religion or needs and operate in the Bradford, Craven, Harrogate and Selby Districts.
The FixFirm Annual Staff Barbeque (July 2018)
FixFirm held their annual staff Barbeque on Wednesday 20th June at their Lincoln head offices.
Our Managing Director, Craig Haughton turned Head Chef for the day and made all staff members a range of delights in the glorious sunshine.
Craig is pictured on the left putting his cooking expertise into practice with his brother Jerry Haughton providing some much appreciated assistance.
FixFirm Corporate Photoshoot and Filming (July 2018)
The FixFirm Lincoln offices and warehouse were very hectic on the 30th May with a film crew and photographer present for a full day to get footage of our staff and daily operations.
The day was organised by Richard Vernon and Beki Ellidge in the marketing team and the video included FixFirm staff from all departments of the business.
Local businesses BluePrint Film and Chris Vaughan Photography were drafted in for the day and completed an excellent job with over 700 images taken and 1.5 hours of filming.
The footage will be shown in a new corporate video that is set for release in the middle of July and also a FixFirm corporate brochure which will follow soon after – we hope you like these new marketing pieces – keep an eye on our website for their release soon!
Careers
Working at Fixfirm
FixFirm is an established and respected company. Working here means being employed by a progressive construction and industry supply leader. The customer is at the centre of everything we do and our employees are committed to making every contact with Fixfirm a remarkable and outstanding experience. Exceptionally high standards of quality customer service are key for us.
In addition to our customers being of great importance to us, Fixfirm is committed to taking care of its employees. It’s because we know that our people are our most important asset through which we can achieve our business goals. Every person in our company is expected to make a significant contribution to their team, and they are rewarded fairly for their hard work and contribution.
FixFirm is recognised for its progressive and innovative programmes and for maintaining a stimulating working environment.
If you want to be considered to work for the Fixfirm team, email your Curriculum Vitae details to careers@fixfirm.com.
Meet Our Employees - The Marketing Team (January 2018)
Meet Beki Ellidge – Marketing Apprentice at FixFirm…
The new Apprenticeship position called 'Digital Marketer (Level 3)' will allow FixFirm to place a greater emphasis into improving our website, as well as increase the capacity to promote our products further afield than just our current customer base.
In her spare time, Beki likes to undertake landscape photography and image manipulation and is an avid reader who enjoys dancing and cheerleading.
Setting the Way for 2018 - Stocktake for 2017 completed (January 2018)
Our Lincoln based Distribution Centre currently stocks around 17,000 items made up from anything as small as nuts and bolts up to items up to 6 metres in length such as electrical channel.
Speaking about the stocktake, Lee Smith, Operations Manager states:-
''The stocktake is an ongoing process from 1st September until 24th December each year and is a massive project which takes approximately 650 hours to perform.
During the last week, the whole business gets involved and is a great team building exercise''
Customer Feedback Monthly Draw - Costa Coffee Voucher Winner (January 2018)
December's winner of the £25 Costa Coffee voucher was Chris Tong of Ermine Engineering in Lincoln.
If you have any feedback about FixFirm, then we would be most interested in hearing about this. Please click here to send us your feedback.
Pricing Update for February 2018 (January 2018)
As you are no doubt aware, the recent months have been a difficult and unpredictable time for product sourcing and manufacturing. This is adding further pressures to pricing along with availability delays on some products.
Some of the reasons are listed below and more details are provided on the document downloadable from our website by clicking here.
• Foreign exchange rates
• New environmental regulations
• International shipping costs
• Rises in manufacturing costs
• UK inflation
• The price of raw materials
We have taken several steps to mitigate the effect of the cost increases to our customers and have absorbed many increases that we have received throughout 2016 and 2017. We have now been notified of further price increases being applied from many of our manufacturers early in 2018.
In order for us to continue to serve you at the highest level, we have been left with no option but to pass on some of the cost increases to our customers and will be implementing price increases on a number of products from 1st February 2018. We will strive to continue and improve the level of service we deliver to our customers and to invest in our products, customer experience and brand throughout 2018.
If you have any questions regarding this or would like to discuss it more specifically, please contact our Sales Team who will be able to help you further.
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A Special Thank you and Farewell to our Purchasing Manager, Chris Ardron (January 2018)
We would also like to take this opportunity to inform you of a change that is taking place at FixFirm with regards to our staff.
Going forward, the role of Purchasing will now be taken up with 2 roles to which we are currently advertising for. This includes a Buyer (click here) and a Purchasing Administrator (click here).
If you would like to apply for these roles then please send your CV to hello@fixfirm.com.
Calendars for 2018 and Client Visits (January 2018)
FixFirm is pleased to announce that our FREE 2018 calendars and desk charts are now available.
To receive a FREE FixFirm Calendar or Desk Calendar, please email into hello@fixfirm.com and we will be more than willing to send these out in the post to you.
As a sign of appreciation for all our customers in 2017, key FixFirm staff made the effort to personally visit over 200 of our customers during December.
Each customer was given gifts and FixFirm 2018 calendars. Apologies if we didn't come and see you, we just had so many people to meet in a short space of time!
Thank you once again for your valued custom.
History of FixFirm - A Brief Overview
Way back on 1st September 1971, our founder Mr. Roger Haughton set up Fixfirm in Retford, Nottinghamshire. The idea was to have a family business that would provide income and employment for Roger’s four sons. It was based on the rapid delivery of products to the construction and engineering industries. At the centre of the business was great customer service with speed and no-frills prices.
Over the years the business grew and changed location several times until it moved to a purpose built premises in Lincoln in 1990, which is where it is still located today.
In 2000 the company split into two industry-focused sectors: Fixfirm Fittings (now called Formed UK www.formed-uk.com) becoming the joinery division and Fixfirm continued as the construction supply division.
The business has a very similar market focus today although the product ranges have expanded significantly over the years.
On the 6th April 2012, Fixfirm changed from trading as a Partnership to being a limited company.
Roger’s dream of a family business was a success and now the company is largely managed by Bill, Tim, Craig and Jerry Haughton with Roger taking a more advisory role.
Careers
Working at Fixfirm
FixFirm is an established and respected company. Working here means being employed by a progressive construction and industry supply leader. The customer is at the centre of everything we do and our employees are committed to making every contact with Fixfirm a remarkable and outstanding experience. Exceptionally high standards of quality customer service are key for us.
In addition to our customers being of great importance to us, Fixfirm is committed to taking care of its employees. It’s because we know that our people are our most important asset through which we can achieve our business goals. Every person in our company is expected to make a significant contribution to their team, and they are rewarded fairly for their hard work and contribution.
FixFirm is recognised for its progressive and innovative programmes and for maintaining a stimulating working environment.
If you want to be considered to work for the Fixfirm team, email your Curriculum Vitae details to careers@fixfirm.com.
Meet Our Employees - The Accounts Team (March 2018)
Kim has worked at FixFirm for 10 years having previously worked in various roles within the recruitment industry.
Her main role at FixFirm is invoicing and processing payments from our customers, as well as opening new customer accounts (including undertaking the necessary credit checks) and credit control.
In her spare time, Kim likes undertaking DIY and taking her son to go-karting events at the weekend, where he competes to a high level.
Kim is currently working towards her AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians) Level 2 in Accounting.
Meet Kristie Taylor, Purchase Ledger Administrator at FixFirm…
Kristie started at FixFirm in 2015 where she completed a 12 month apprenticeship in Business Administration Level 2.
Following her apprenticeship, Kristie now works in our Accounts team as our Purchase Ledger Administrator. Kristie’s main role is processing invoices from our suppliers, raising invoice queries and processing payments.
In her spare time, Kristie likes going away at weekends and jet ski-ing with her family.
Kristie is also working towards her AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians) Level 2 in Accounting
Projects we have recently supplied in Lincoln (March 2018)
FixFirm are pleased to have recently supplied products and equipment to some of the following prestigeous projects based in Lincoln, via a wide range of different types of sub-contractors.
- Isaac Newton Building, School of Engineering Building, Lincoln University
- One The Brayford, Appartments and 3 restaurants, Lincoln
- International Bomber Command Centre, Canwick Hill, Lincoln
- The Gateway, Student Accommodation, Lincoln University
Keep an eye out on our Social Media pages for future projects that FixFirm find ourselves invloved with.
Nominate a Charity to receive £50 (March 2018)
Many thanks to all of you that contributed - some of your comments can be seen across our social media site updates.
New Look for our Lincoln Trade Counter (March 2018)
Following the re-branding of FixFirm last year from green to blue, we have now completed implementing our new look into our Lincoln based Trade Counter.
For those of you that you have visited us since the change, we hope you like it!
For those of you that haven't, may we remind you that our Trade Counter is open 7am-5pm, Monday to Fridays, and is located on Pyke Road, off Whisby Road Lincoln LN6 3QS.
We can supply you with any of our ‘in-stock’ products over the counter at the same price as your credit account.
Products that are in stock are shown on our website with a green tick against the price tag as shown in the picture above.
To order and collect your goods on the same day, please see our Fast Lane service below…
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A Reminder about our Fast Lane Service (March 2018)
Its Simple…
2. Wait 30-40 minutes including travel time
3. Collect your item(s) from our Fast Lane Window instead of queueing at our main counter. You will normally be in and out of the shop in just a few minutes.
If you require to pick up your purchase(s) first thing in the morning at 7am, then please order by 4pm the previous day.
Lincoln Trade Counter address: Pyke Road, off Whisby Road, Lincoln LN6 3QS.
£250 Free Giveaway Pack Winner (March 2018)
FixFirm remains open despite the 'Beast from the East'
FixFirm News…
Meet Our Employees - Trade Counter Shop (October 2018)
Meet Bob Murphy - Our Trade Centre (Lincoln) Manager
Bob has worked at FixFirm since 1983 and is currently our Trade Counter Manager acting as the 'Face of FixFirm' to the general public.
As the second longest current serving member of staff, Bob has worked in various roles over the past 35 years including a Delivery Driver, Warehouse Operative and Customer Service / Sales Advisor.
His main role at FixFirm is ensuring our Trade Counter Products and Special Offers appeal to both our cash sales customers, as well as large account customers. Bob also works in the Warehouse, packing boxes and helping out with the labelling of parcels when he can.
Bob has vast product knowledge and can advise customers on a wide range of technical issues, as well as suggesting alternative products within given construction areas due to his valuable experience with FixFirm.
In his spare time, Bob is a family man and spends a lot of time with his 4 children and 6 grandchildren. He is also a keen supporter of Glasgow Rangers FC and is a keen fan of The Dropkick Murphy's - an American Celtic punk band.
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FixFirm keen to support the British Heart Foundation (October 2018)
In September FixFirm were pleased to continue our ongoing support to charities, by taking part in the British Heart Foundation campaign called 'Bag It, Beat It'.
The campaign encourages the public to turn their pre-loved items, such as good quality clothes, bags, shoes, books, CDs, DVDs, toys and more... into life-saving heart research.
FixFirm staff managed to collect 10 bags of items for the campaign, as shown in the picture with our Customer Service Advisor Ryan Thomas.
If you would like to take part in the campaign, then please click on the following links which show the different ways in which you and your business can help this-
To request Beat It, Bag It collection bags, please click here
To donate, click here
New Starters in Business Development and Customer Services (October 2018)
August and September saw 2 new starters join the FixFirm team.
Meet Ashlie Cantiliffe - Business Development / Campaign Co-ordinator Executive
Ashlie Cantiliffe joined in August to work in the Business Development team, with the main focus of developing new business for FixFirm from existing and new leads, as well as growing existing accounts.
Ashlie joined us from Retail Merchant Services in Milton Keynes, a low-cost payment solutions provider, where she worked as a Team Leader.
In her spare time, Ashlie likes to shop til she drops!
Meet Devan Wilson - Customer Service Apprentice
Devan Wilson joined the business as our Customer Service Apprentice in September 2018 following the completion of her GCSE's earlier this year.
The new Apprenticeship position called 'Customer Service Practitioner (Level 2)' will increase the capacity and capabilities of our inbound Customer Service team.
In her spare time, Devan likes to read books, socialise with friends, watch documentaries and babysit frequently for family members.
FixFirm Implements New Barcode Scanners (October 2018)
To increase the efficiency of our internal operations, FixFirm have recently invested in hand-held terminals for the data management of our stock. Traditionally, any stock management processes such as marking goods as received or changing stock quantities used to be managed through desktop computers at specific geographic locations.
Several Warehouse operatives have now been given the handheld terminals, so the task of data input and recording can be done from multiple, remote locations.
This is vital to FixFirm at this time of year, as we start to conduct our annual stocktaking process, to ensure the information we hold on our products is as accurate as possible, so we can offer a better and more effective service to our customers.
Commenting on the handheld terminals, James Dunn, Goods In Operative states:-
''The fact that we can now input and amend product information onto the company database via a handheld terminal, regardless of where we are in the warehouse, means my colleagues and I can work much quicker and more effectively, giving us more time to concentrate on other day-to-day tasks such as helping out with order preparation when required'
New Fixfirm Corporate Video: Star Service Promise (October 2018)
In the last edition of fixfirmnews (version 5), we informed you about a filming day that took place at the FixFirm Head Offices in Lincoln.
We are now pleased to announce that all the hard work on the day has now been compiled into a new two-and-a-half minute corporate video titled '5 Star Service Promise'.
The video outlines our 5 service promises associated with providing our customers a first class, second to none service - these values being Personal, Knowledgeable, Providing Process Linkage, Responsive and Flexible.
The video can be viewed by clicking here and we will be producing short 1 minute videos on each of these values very soon.
Halogen to LED: Have you made the switch? (October 2018)
Construction site lighting has recently seen a shift from the use of traditional halogen lights across to the LED (Light-Emitting Diode).
LED (Light-Emitting Diode) lights last around 25-30 times longer, use around 75% less power and therefore are cheaper to operate in terms of electricity costs.
Many UK construction sites have placed a ban on the use of halogen lights due to the fire hazard they present, with 90% of their energy being given off in heat. For LED's 95% of the energy is converted into light and only 5% is wasted as heat, making them much more environmentally friendly.
FixFirm provide a wide range of LED and Halogen floor lights, torchlights and tripod lights, which can all be viewed here:-To view FixFirm's full lighting range, please visit:- www.fixfirm.com/lighting
We are also having a clearance sale on some Halogen lighting, the deals which are linked below:
http://www.fixfirm.com/product/index/V921-435_110V_500W_Single_Halogen_Folding_Tripod_Light
http://www.fixfirm.com/product/index/V921-410_500W_110V_Halogen_Floor_Site_Light
Projects we have recently supplied (October 2018)
FixFirm are pleased to have recently supplied products and equipment to some of the following projects based in Lincoln, via a wide range of different types of sub-contractors.
- Viking House, via Spinal Joinery
- Lincoln Bus Station, via Rilmac Group Ltd
- Lincoln Eastern Bypass via Sword Construction
Keep an eye out on our Social Media pages for future projects that FixFirm find ourselves involved with.
Facebook: click here
LinkedIn: click here
Twitter: click here
New Autumn Deals (October 2018)
It's that time of year again; look out for our new selection of Autumn Deals.
Click Here to find out more
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Meet Our Employees - Goods In Team (January 2019)
Meet Matt Ransome, Goods-In Manager and Health & Safety Manager
Meet James Dunn, Goods-In Operative
Setting the way for 2019 - stock take for 2018 completed (January 2019)
At the end of each year, FixFirm undertakes an annual stock-take prior to shutting down for the Festive break.
Members of staff from the warehouse team helped play their part in making sure our stock was re-organised earlier than previous years, which meant as additional day holiday for everyone else!
Our Lincoln based Distribution Centre currently stocks around 17,000 products, all of which have to be recorded on our internal database in terms of stock quantities, location and descriptions.
The annual stock-take is vital to FixFirm as it forms the basis of our purchasing, marketing, and customer service activities.
Speaking about the stocktake, Lee Smith, Operations Manager states:-
''The stocktake is an ongoing process from 1st September until 24th December usually, but this year we completed it in record time.
This is an exercise that usually takes approximately 650 hours to perform, but this was vastly reduced this year due to the use of our new handheld bar code scanners that interlink with our company database
Van tool theft prevention - Armorgard free week trial (January 2019)
FixFirm, in conjunction with armorgard, are offering you the chance to hire any of their products on a free 1 week trial period.
This offer is available on all FixFirm armorgard products (click here) but we recommend the Oxbox range of products, that have specifically been designed for vans.
To find out more CLICK HERE.
FixFirm Statement about Brexit (January 2019)
No doubt we are all seeing and hearing enough in the news about Brexit and the forthcoming March deadline!
Due to the fact that the UK imports more than it exports from the EU and rest of the world, there is a lot of uncertainty about the potential effects in terms of the cost of goods and raw materials.
FixFirm are identifying all products that are imported and all suppliers that ship from overseas warehouses, and subsequently contacting suppliers to establish what their contingency plan is - We are finding that many suppliers with UK warehouses are increasing stocks already.
Where we identify a potential risk, we will be increasing our minimum stock threshold to account for a potential delay on incoming deliveries. As we get nearer the March deadline and things become clearer, we may increase this further. This increased re-order threshold will be maintained until the situation settles down later in the year.
This situation is constantly changing so if you do want any more information, please feel free to contact us.
Calendars for 2019 and Client Visits (January 2019)
FixFirm is pleased to announce that our FREE 2019 calendars and desk charts are now available.
To receive a FREE FixFirm Calendar or Desk Calendar, please email into hello@fixfirm.com and we will be more than willing to send these out in the post to you.
As a sign of appreciation for all our customers in 2018, key FixFirm staff made the effort to personally visit over 200 of our customers during December.
Each customer was given gifts and FixFirm 2019 calendars. Apologies if we didn't come and see you, we just had so many people to meet in a short space of time!
Thank you once again for your valued custom.
Thank You to the FixFirm Directors (January 2019)
As 2018 came to an end, the staff at Fixfirm decided to recognise the help and support that the Directors had given us throughout the year, as well as acknowledge the time they had each spent within the company.
As a little thank you gift we decided to have customised mugs designed with childhood pictures of the amount of years they have each dedicated to FixFirm.
So, thank you Bill for your 38 years, Tim for your 24 Years, Craig for your 17 years and Jerry for your 15 years, all of whom are pictured above.
Lets hope 2019 is also a success for FixFirm!
Lincoln Trade Counter Prize Draw Giveaway Winners (January 2019)
You may remember back in December of last year, we ran a Prize Draw promotion to customers who visited our Trade Counter 5 times within December.
The draw was well received with over 40 participants, who stood the chance of winning a Drillmax Drill worth £100 or a Hamper Giveaway worth £58.
We are pleased to announce the winners were Dale Ellison of Maher Millard and Tony Dawson from A Dawson who won 1st and 2nd prize respectively.
Look out on our website or keep a look out on your email for further promotions of this nature that we will be running later in the year!
As a reminder, the FixFirm Trade Counter is based on Pyke Road, Lincoln LN6 3QS, where we also have a Fast Lane Service, where your orders can be picked up within half an hour time period!
Pictured is Dale Ellison from Maher Millard collecting his prize from our Trade Counter Manager Bob Murphy.
Congratulations To Kim and Kristie on passing their AAT exam (January 2019)
Congratulations to our Accounting Team Kim and Kristie for recently passing their AAT Level 2 – Bookkeeping controls exam.
Both passed with excellent marks and the module subjects included payment methods and controls in a bookkeeping system, the journal, VAT control account and bank reconciliations.
Everyone at FixFirm wishes them every success in their next module!
