An online plumbing and heating business is on course for a record year, with turnover expected to top £11million. As it approaches the end of its fourth year, Wirral-based PlumbNation has seen rapid growth from its first year turnover of £2.3million to last year’s impressive £8million.
The ecommerce company currently employs just 11 people, but this is expected to rise to 20 within the next 18 months. PlumbNation is the brainchild of Managing Director Royden Evans, who left school at 16 with only a handful of qualifications but was itching to work in the plumbing and heating industry after spending weekends and holidays working for his stepfather, who was a plumber.
After a successful career handling key accounts for the likes of Travis Perkins’ owned City Plumbing, Royden identified an opportunity to create a powerful ecommerce site selling plumbing and heating products direct to domestic customers across the UK.
During 2010, the website attracted more than 1.4million visitors – compared to 772,000 the previous year. Royden said: “We are continuing to invest significantly in our ecommerce platform with a new look website due to launch in the next few weeks aimed at further improving the customer experience. We have led the way in terms of innovation in our sector with the use of online customer guides, product video demonstrations and a sophisticated online heating calculator allowing customers to match the most appropriate products to their home’s needs.”
