Features

Bringing Customer Service back to the Customer

18 Feb , 2021  

Set-up by Dave Sheridan and Darren Kane in 2015, Plumb4less Ltd is a Direct Plumbing and Heating Supplier based in Ashbourne, Co Meath. Building Ireland caught up with its Managing Director recently and learned all about what is very much a thriving business.

Business is booming right now for Dave and his team at Plumb4less Ltd and the plan is to keep things that way after the company marked half a decade last March.

Based in Ashbourne Industrial Estate in Co Meath, Plumb4less brings its customers over 20 years of plumbing, heating and building experience.

The company is all about competitive pricing and service and is a 100% Irish-Owned, family run business, supplying a large range of material to plumbers, mechanical contractors and builders nationwide and also in the UK.

Here’s what Dave has to say about this thriving business.

“We’re established since March 2015 and right now we have six full-time staff,” said Dave.

“My wife Linda looks after the accounts here and our 16-year-old son also helps out as well.

“I used to work for some of the bigger plumbing and heating companies in Ireland and learned my trade and my skill in that time.”

“I decided that I wanted to set up my own business that was Customer Service based at its heart and knew that I had contacts that trusted me after dealing in the industry over the years.”

In March 2015, Plumb4less Ltd was born and the rest, as they say, is history.

The company now delivers nationwide through its in-house fleet of vehicles and also to the UK through its partner distributors.

At the centre of the business is its delivery service, as it is where they come into their own. Plumb4less Ltd will pick, pack and ship your order to you same day where possible and next day once your order is placed before 6.00pm.

They have the stock and the staff to take care of your requirements and let you get on with the work you need to do.

“The idea was always to bring the product direct to our customers, delivering the product in our vans and thus saving them time,” outlined Dave.

“We started out, originally, providing our service directly out of a van and then developing the business to where it is today. The idea was to concentrate on bringing the products directly to installers. But this grew very quickly and we realised that we needed to expand our set up. We invested in a property at Ashbourne Industrial Estate and have three vehicles on the road delivering to our customers every day. We also have a large fully racked and stocked warehouse here now too.”

It has been a quick rise to say the least for Plumb4less Ltd but, then again, it had been the plan all along for them when they first set-up shop.

With over 20 years’ experience in supplying plumbing and heating materials to the market, Dave has always believed in the importance of service and putting the customer first.

Plumb4less Ltd is a company which aims to take the hassle out of ordering your day to day requirements, so they are modernising the industry and the approach to the needs of customers.

It has been a case of so far, so good for all parties involved.

“We have had a lot of luck along the way but I have to say that I do think we’re a very honest business here,” said the Managing Director.

“I try and instil an understanding here from ‘Day One’ that we care about the customer above all. We get the customer sorted no matter what and it really is a service driven business.

“We’re not in it to make millions. We’re kept going by our customers and we keep our feet on the ground.”

It’s an approach that seems to have paid off as Plumb4less is “back busier than ever” since the lifting of lockdown for the Irish construction industry back in May, according to Dave.

The company supplies an extensive range of Plumbing and Heating products such as Copper and Aluminium Multilayer Pipe, Armaflex Insulation, Plastic Waste and Soil Fittings, Valves and Consumables.

In regards to Renewables, Plumb4less are agents for renewable technologies including Solar, Wind, Underfloor Heating and also natural sources of energy and conversion. They also stock a large variety of Air to Water Heat Pumps in various outputs to meet the growing requirement of more natural heat sources in our homes these days.

Plumb4less also stocks a large range of baths, sanitary ware, showers, sinks and furniture for your project requirements dealing with Plumbers, Mechanical Contractors, Builders and Homeowners.

“We were able to stay open here during the lockdown with limited staff as we provide an emergency service but April was definitely a stop-start month for us, as it was for most companies” explained Dave.

“We started crawling back in May and now we are back busier than ever. There have definitely been difficult challenges but we’re actually learning and becoming stronger than ever.

“I still think the next few months will be difficult for companies but we’re happy to face into them and happy to be able to work.”

And the work seems to be plentiful at the minute, so what has been the secret? How has a company a little over five years old enjoyed such a quick rise having first set-up with a single van on the road?

For Dave, service has always been the key to the company’s continued success.

“We’re just trying to do it right. We get a lot more from small independent customers than the main stream ones,” he said. Sometimes these customers are a bit neglected in Merchants.

“We’ve an attitude of caring here and the customers that we deal with are with us for years and they stay with us because of the service they get.

“It’s about trying to go above and beyond for them. If you do that, customers respect you for it.”

With that approach, it’s little wonder why Plumb4less is going as strong as ever half a decade on.

As for what lays ahead, Dave concluded by saying: “We’re here, we’ve been here and the company is over five years old now so we’re staying here. There’s also a pride of place element for us too because no one else in Ashbourne is doing what we’re doing.” “We have received great support from our customers in the area and we want this to continue for a long time to come!!”

Plumb4less Ltd
108 Ashbourne Industrial Estate,
Ballybin Road,
Ashbourne,
Co Meath
Tel: 01 513 4968
E-mail: [email protected]

This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, September/October 2020, Vol 6 No 5