When a builders’ merchant based in the Home Counties found its business beginning to plateau, they approached Moorgate Management, a building materials distribution consultant that specialises in supporting the builders’ merchant sector. Here, we explore how Moorgate was able to help the merchant adjust their business in preparation for long-term growth.
The mid-sized builders’ merchant had been trading for more than 20 years and, in that time, had grown successfully from a single site business to one trading from several small satellite units, but that success had created inefficiencies that were beginning to show. Stock management and the absence of a clear, long-term growth plan were all factors holding the merchant back from realising its full potential. That’s what prompted the company to reach out to Moorgate Management for help. Moorgate’s Founder, Chris Maityard, has decades of experience leading some of the most successful builders’ merchants in the sector, and now works to support other merchants in helping their businesses succeed.
The discovery stage
The work began with a three-hour discovery session, held at the merchant’s head office site. “I always start by visiting the merchant directly,” Chris explains. “When I walk around a branch with the owners I can very quickly learn a lot about the business and how it runs, which opens up a much clearer picture. Sometimes, what the merchant thinks they need help with isn’t always the real issue.”
That session revealed several underlying challenges. Despite strong turnover on paper, the business lacked a five-year financial model and had no formal cashflow forecasting. Resources were being spread thin across multiple sites within minutes of each other, and the owners themselves were struggling with overlapping roles and responsibilities, and a lack of effective communication.
Creating the growth plan
Chris’ first action was to create a Stage 1 Growth Plan – a structured, time-lined programme built around its four-pillar framework : Financial, People, Growth Drivers and Operational. Each of these areas helped to shine a light on a different part of the business, with each playing a crucial role in the merchant’s future success.
On the financial side, Moorgate helped them to build out a five-year plan, linking revenue ambitions with a realistic funding model and introducing a 13-week cashflow forecast that would help them make sure the business was secure in the short-term. The discovery process also exposed that the merchant’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system had never been fully implemented, causing inefficiencies in the business and preventing proper data analysis. So, a gap analysis was carried out to help the business decide whether the ERP system could be optimised or would need to be replaced.
For the People workstream, Chris developed a complete roles and responsibilities matrix, salary banding, training needs analysis and, as a result, a Learning and Development plan identifying for each colleague what training was required, such as sales, margin and product knowledge. These simple steps immediately improved accountability right across the business and helped give staff a clearer sense of ownership.
Chris explains: “The Learning and Development plan revealed some interesting points, because while the business had already carried out extensive sales and margin training among staff, they hadn’t done any building material product training. So, while the staff knew how to sell, and were good at it, if customers asked for technical product information, they didn’t always have the right answers.”
The Growth drivers plan looked at how the merchant could unlock more value from its existing customer base. Analysis of its ERP data showed the company had around 1,500 customer accounts, but only just over half of those were active. Moorgate introduced reactivation campaigns for low-spend and lapsed customers and helped guide the business away from large developers, which had been considered their core market, to focus more on general builders where margins were significantly higher.
In Operations, Moorgate helped them to address existing Health and Safety, Transport, stock management and purchasing inefficiencies, resulting in both cost and efficiency improvements. Minimum and maximum stock levels were introduced, aged-stock exercises were linked to supplier reviews, and a formal framework for rebate management and supplier engagement was created to help improve the merchant’s partnerships with their suppliers.
Building the strategic roadmap
The second stage of the process was the creation of a Strategic Roadmap – a clear outline of how the business could evolve over the next five years. The plan identified enablers such as leadership alignment, people development and funding, alongside initiatives to deepen the customer proposition, broaden the company’s product offer and accelerate growth through partnerships and potential site redevelopment.
A SWOT analysis also brought together the business’s strengths – their team, strong reputation, great location, and service levels – alongside weaknesses such as fragmented geographic sites, limited marketing and undercapitalisation. From this, the roadmap prioritised achievable actions with clear ownership and review points.
Cultural change and mentoring
While the deliverables provided the structure of what needed to be done, much of Moorgate Management’s value to the merchant came from Chris’ on-site mentoring of the leadership team. “So much of what we do isn’t just about producing a report,” says Chris. “It’s about working alongside the business as a part of their team and helping them to address issues they’ve lived with for years.”
For this merchant, that meant tackling difficult conversations around performance and culture. Through facilitated workshops, the owners agreed new communication habits, including daily stand-ups and weekly trading meetings with minuted actions for accountability. These small changes began to shift the culture from reactive to proactive.
Within weeks, the leadership team had a clearer understanding of their priorities and an actionable framework to track progress. They could see which workstreams were red (with urgent work required), amber (underway) or green (complete) – a simple but powerful way to maintain focus and assess progress. The process also gave the team renewed confidence in their ability to grow sustainably.
As Chris notes: “This merchant was already a smart, entrepreneurial business. What they needed was structure and time to think about their long-term strategy. Our job was to help them capture that vision, identify the gaps and give them the tools to build on what they had already achieved.”
Why Moorgate Management works
What sets Moorgate Management apart from other consultancies is Chris Maityard’s background. A qualified Chartered Accountant, Chris combines financial and consulting expertise with decades of hands-on experience in builders’ merchanting. He has managed national operations including Plumbase, co-founded the creation of the original IBMG, and has led major turnaround and growth projects right across the UK distribution sector.
That dual perspective – the precision and financial understanding of a consultant with the pragmatism and experience of a merchant – allows Moorgate to bridge the gap between strategy and execution. “Most consultants know consulting,” Chris explains, “but they don’t understand the day-to-day of merchanting. We bring both.”
For this merchant, Moorgate’s involvement marked the start of a true business turnaround. From leadership alignment to data-driven financial planning, the Growth Plan and Strategic Roadmap gave the team a clear path forward and a framework to build upon for years to come.
It is a model that has become central to Moorgate’s work with builders’ merchants across the UK – a practical, collaborative approach that helps owner-managed businesses regain control, unlock growth and plan confidently for the future.