The savings were reported as Brammer released its preliminary results for the year ending 31 December 2012, during which it posted its highest ever Group revenue of £639.6 million (11.9 per cent higher than the 2011 figure of £571.5 million), along with an operating profit of £37.2 million.

 

The £51.5 million of cost savings – up from £35 million in 2011 – demonstrated Brammer’s commitment to providing its customers with unbeatable value.

 

Ian Fraser, Chief Executive of Brammer, commented: “Driven by the provision of exceptional value and service to our customers, coupled with continued investment in our long-term growth strategy, 2012 was a highly successful and significant year for Brammer. Overall we estimate the market for our entire range of products to be worth in excess of €40 billion across Europe. It is a highly fragmented marketplace and while our current market share is around two per cent, we are nonetheless the European market leader.

 

“What this means is that our market share will not be a constraint to growth for decades to come – but more importantly for our customers there will be no limits to the cost saving opportunities they will be able to realise by working in partnership with Brammer.

 

“Our customers realise that purchasing MRO supplies can be complex and expensive, so they choose to partner with us to make it easier and help reduce their costs.

 

“Many manufacturing companies have undergone permanent change in the way they operate and are facing increased cost pressures and greater competition. Our value proposition specifically addresses opportunities for the customers to improve productivity, assisted by our field sales engineers and technical specialists, often in collaboration with our partner suppliers. Meanwhile, all of our customers recognise the need for healthy cashflow and a strong balance sheet, and we have provided numerous significant savings by helping customers optimise their MRO inventory management, reducing working capital and total acquisition costs. Most importantly, our international coverage enables customers to benefit not just from our extensive buying power, but the same quality of service and local delivery wherever they are located in the 16 countries we serve.

 

“During the year we have also opened a further 88 Insites – effectively Brammer branches on customer premises, geared entirely to those customers’ needs in terms of stockholding, opening hours and Brammer expertise – taking the total to 300 Insites™ across Europe, and these have contributed significantly to the growth in savings through reduced administration as well as technical improvements to operations.

 

“Indeed during 2012 we provided a record 5,500 recognised cost-saving actions to our customers yielding a financial benefit of £51.5 million – significantly more than Brammer’s own operating profit. This has helped and will continue to help the European manufacturing industry to remain competitive even as the overall economic climate remains tough.

 

“At Brammer we take the view that it’s not a cost saving until our customers say it’s a cost saving – every single saving in that £51.5 million figure has been individually signed-off and audited by that customer, meaning they recognise the value that Brammer is delivering for them.”