Wates Interiors now winning one in two jobs

Wates Interiors, the national fit-out and refurbishment division of Wates Group, is now winning one in two jobs, according to its business development director John Silk.

Silk said that the division, which has a £60m order book at the start of this year, was now pricing up around three to five jobs a month compared to 10 per month the year before.

"More and more customers are buying value," said Silk. "Through gaining trust in our clients and through repeat work, we are now securing contracts through value."

Before bidding for work, the team asks seven deciding questions, including: will the contract actually take place; who the client is; what is the nature of the work; and have the team worked with the client before.

"We are being a lot more selective in what we bid for and for who as bidding costs are substantial," added Silk. "It is well known that it costs eight times more to gain a new client than to keep an existing one. In the past we were winning one in ten jobs and the overheads were huge."

Although savings have yet to be measured, Silk added that the real benefits were the value that the clients were seeing in selecting Wates, which helps secure future work.

"A typical design and build contract could cost £20,000 to bid. We would rather say to the client take that amount off the bid so that we can secure the work," he added.

Repeat business for the residential and commercial fit-out team of the company stands at 60%, while its retail team, which works for regular clients such as Boots, Marks & Spencer and Littlewoods, is achieving 90% repeat business.