When J van Vliet’s 28-year-old managing director Christian van der Sar entered his UK business into last May’s Re:fresh Awards, it was by no means a foregone conclusion that he would be up on stage collecting the award on the night.
But the young entrepreneur was confident in his company’s ability to win. “I entered the Re:fresh Awards because I thought we had a good chance of winning,” he explains. “We are the largest of all the UK’s plant and flower cash and carries, and I think we are one of the best.”
J van Vliet operates 13 offices in the UK, in Enfield, Heathrow, Northampton, Derby, Manchester (two offices), Glasgow, Edinburgh (two offices), Perth, Aberdeen, Inverness and Birmingham, employing some 160 staff overall. Three of these opened last year - one of the Manchester outlets, the one in Inverness and a new state-of-the art facility in Birmingham, which was up and running in October.
Product arrives six days a week, ensuring the firm achieves the critical mass it aims for. “This year, we have achieved good growth in the UK, even in hard times,” says Van der Sar, who is also managing director of the company’s only US branch, in New York.
J van Vliet started life 20 years ago as a sourcing and supply office in the Netherlands, based in the Westland at the traditional Dutch flower auctions. This branch supplies flowers and plants directly to retailers and wholesalers in other parts of the world, including Ireland, Russia, eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Along with the UK and US cash and carries, the firm also operates sourcing offices in Brazil, Thailand and Colombia. The Colombian office was established 15 years ago, followed by the Thai and Brazilian branches, both set up five years ago. There are also plans to open more branches in other parts of the world. “We have close relations with farmers in these countries,” says Van der Sar.
In the UK, J van Vliet has 6,000 customers, each equipped with a membership card. Around 75 per cent of these are florists. Customers visiting the Enfield cash and carry follow a clear path through areas divided into plants, cut flowers and sundries, ensuring they do not miss out on any part of the outlet.
J van Vliet has invested significantly into wireless handheld technology on the shop floor, as well as an IT system that enables Van der Sar to track sales and footfall across every one of his UK branches. “We have an integrated IT system across the group,” he explains. “As managing director, I travel wherever required, as I need to see the business as it is. I want it to be right every time. I work without a schedule and keep in touch with my other branches via daily telephone calls, emails and cameras.
“A lot of florists come at least three days a week and some even come every day. You can only have really fresh products on offer if you have a fast turnover. We like to make sure there are a lot of florists passing through and that the prices are good value, as that gets the ball rolling.
“It was nice to be recognised at Re:fresh, but the biggest buzz is when a florist picks up a phone and gives you good feedback.”
The firm prides itself on its one-stop shop approach. “We import 70 per cent of our products directly and use external suppliers for the rest,” says Van der Sar. “Everything in our stores is pre-priced, which is convenient for our customers and allows us to be fully price competitive.”
Around 60 per cent of the flowers and plants sold by J van Vliet are either of Dutch origin or transported to the UK via the firm’s Dutch sourcing office. The firm procures around 20 per cent of its plants and five per cent of its flowers from UK growers.
“With the recession, demand for organic or Fairtrade flowers has totally dried up and people are not too worried where the flowers are from either,” says Van der Sar. “At the moment, our customers just want the cheapest products. There is not much production in the UK, so we cannot source from closer to home.”
Van der Sar insists that there are clear benefits to shopping at J van Vliet cash and carry outlets as opposed to wholesale markets. “The markets are slightly old-fashioned,” he says. “Customers at the markets also have to shop around and negotiate, whereas our customers can be confident in the quality of the products they receive and the price they are paying.
“At the moment, people want good-quality flowers that offer good value for money.”
Van der Sar took the reins in 2003 as managing director of J van Vliet’s UK cash and carries. “My father was a pepper grower in the Netherlands and he encouraged me to get into the trade,” he explains. “I did business economics and agriculture at university and the two practical periods of my course were spent working for J van Vliet. Then after university, I was offered the job of managing director of the UK business. In 2003, we operated just two branches in the UK and the one in New York.”
The business has clearly moved on since those days. “We are a young, ambitious company,” says Van der Sar. “We have got the right computer system now and that means we can invest in the group and the people. This is really a people industry. They are our most important asset and we know that a combination of the right people and an efficient system works.”
Expansion is constantly on the cards. “We are always approached by local individuals and wholesalers who want to join us - a business stands stronger as a group,” says Van der Sar. “There is advantage in scale in terms of buying power. But you can only grow if you offer the best quality, high volumes and a fast turnover.”
But the next year will be one of reflection and building on that growth. “In the next few months we will consolidate, although we might open another cash and carry later in the year,” says Van der Sar. “We are growing in the recession because people are looking for the best value for money. There are new customers coming to our branches every day and we have enough people in our group now to help and support us through the period ahead.”
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