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International
Setup
Nick Kohli is proud
of electrical accessories supplier Eurosonic’s new distribution
centre. To him, it is more than just a building – it is a symbol of how
much the company has developed since it was started by his father 25 years
ago.
 Kohli,
25, is joint managing director of the company with his brother-in-law,
Harpreet Chadha, 29. The two men have been in charge since Kohli’s father,
Jaswinder, decided to take a back seat just over two years ago.
Jaswinder originally
decided to set up business, a cash and carry outlet, in 1974. The business
sold fancy goods, lighters, jewellery and electrical items, but when British
Telecom was privatised in the mid-1980s he saw an opportunity to supply
accessories such as extension leads and phone sockets at a cheaper price
than BT.
These items were
originally manufactured near the company’s base in the Strangeways area
of Manchester, but Jaswinder used family connections to set up a factory
in India.
“We’re distantly related to the Coca-Cola distributors for Northern India,”
explains Kohli. “They’ve got a huge operation there – the franchise covers
around 200 million people.”
The factory is next
to the Coca-Cola site, just two minutes from New Delhi’s International
Airport. It manufactures a range of telephone and electrical accessories
including extension leads, plug sockets, adaptors and TV aerials. The
goods are all specified to meet British Safety Standards, the factory
is ISO 9002-accredited and the distribution centre has just achieved the
ISO 9001 standard.
The factory has helped
Eurosonic’s business to grow at a phenomenal rate – combined
turnover for holding company Europasonic (UK) is expected
to reach £12 million this year.
“We may have been running this business for two and a half years, but
the main foundations for our success were put in place by my father,”
says Kohli. “He left it in a very good position for us to take it forward,
and we’ve just got to make sure we keep meeting our targets.”
Kohli’s father made sure that his son was well prepared for running the
company – he studied Law and Business at Birmingham University, before
moving on to take a postgraduate business course at the London School
of Economics.
“I knew that I would be taking over with my brother-in-law, but you still
need that foundation of education – you don’t realise how valuable it
is until you are in business and you have to make decisions.”
One of his immediate aims was to bring the company’s disparate group of
offices and warehouses under one roof. A new corporate centre, which houses
both headoffice functions and a large distribution centre, opened earlier
this year.
“This building has been very important for our dealings with clients.
It gives the assurance that we’re not going to let people down, and if
our customers have more confidence in us, they will do more business with
us.”
 The
company already seems to have plenty of confident customers. It supplies
high street electrical retailers like Tandy and Richer Sounds, as well
as established discount retailers such as Netto and Poundstretcher.
“Once we’re in with a customer, we’re very hard to dislodge. As long as
we can assure our customers of the service they require and the quality
of the products at the right price, then the relationship only strengthens.”
It is also the sole UK agent for a range of Mitsubishi accessories
including video tapes, audio tapes, batteries and CD-ROMS.
“That was a bolt from the blue. We managed to get a tie-in with Mitsubishi
Ireland, who were given a licence to develop a range of products for the
European market. They knew we had a network of customers who we could
sell those products to, so we helped to develop that range with them.
Kohli explains that
Eurosonic was producing its own, non-branded video cassettes
at the time, but the price of the major brands of videos was falling so
fast the product was becoming uncompetitive.
Following an initial
commitment to take a few containers of tapes around 18 months ago, sales
have flourished. The company expects to sell around five million units
this year, and has committed to take a further eight million next year.
In fact, Eurosonic has just won an award from discount retailer
Poundstretcher, because Mitsubishi video cassettes are its
fastest-selling line by some distance.
Eurosonic
is now Mitsubishi’s biggest customer for video cassettes
and is expecting to sell some £3.5 million worth of its batteries within
the next 12 months.
Mitsubishi
has been delighted with the success this far and recently presented Eurosonic
with an award for outstanding sales. The companies are looking to develop
the range further.
“The president of Mitsubishi Europe came to visit us last
month and he was very impressed with our setup.”
He is not the only one. Kohli’s father may have handed over control of
the company, but he is still a regular figure in the company’s distribution
centre, keeping an eye on the day-to-day operations.
“He’s been very happy to sit back and let us take over the reins, but
he’s here for advice all the time.”
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