Symphony still focused on retail, even as newbuild sales pick up

Symphony has slammed allegations the company will change its focus away from retailers as the newbuild market picks up.

Although marketing director of the Symphony Group, Simon Collyns says the uplift in the company’s sales volume “has probably exceeded expectations”, he says the increase was from a mix of newbuild and retail.

He added the investment Symphony had put in place, during the recession, had made the company “resilient”.

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The Symphony Group showed an 18% increase in turnover from £133million in 2013 to £157million in 2014. But Simon Collyns pointed out that even during this period of growth, Symphony had continued to invest in the likes of a paint line, fleet and two-man deliveries.

Collyns commented: ““The retail market for us, the growth has been very strong in the last 12 months. During the last 12-18 months, rather than seeing us move away to the building market, it has gone the other way. Whilst we’ve kept the building market going, we’ve still continued to invest and support our retailers at the same time.”

He continued: “Even though we have seen big volumes come through in terms of the new build market, that’s had no impact at all in terms of how we’ve supported our retailers. In fact, [it’s been] quite the reverse. We’ve introduced new product, new service initiatives, specifically for retail and other market support as well and that’s going to continue for the long-term. We are now bedded in the retail market. We are not going to change.”