Builders' merchant ACHIEVER of the year

WINNER - ANDREW BYGATE (UGS) Shipston on Stour, Warwickshire
In 1995, 26-year-old Andrew Bygate set up Underground Supplies with funds of £30,000 and one employee - himself. He leased a drainage contractor's yard next door to where he lived, wrote a business plan and promoted it to "anyone who would listen". He persuaded a couple of manufacturers (who still supply UGS) to extend consignment stock.
Mr Bygate planned to make £500K in year one, but ended up achieving a turnover of £1.5m. The business doubled in size and after a couple of years, through acquisition, UGS established a depot in Norwich. A four-acre site was later purchased. Shortly after this, Mr Bygate bought old-established merchants Whittakers, based in Kirby in Ashfield and Nottingham. The company was turning over £5m/year and following its acquisition, Mr Bygate changed his company's name to UGS and started to stock building materials in depth at each depot. Over the last few years UGS has opened new branches on greenfield sites in Cardiff, Exeter, Braintree, Crosshands, Banbury, Birmingham and Warrington. It now has a turnover of close to £50m. Innovation schemes and a complete range of materials from drainage through to power tools and paint ensure UGS has a broad customer base. The merchant continues to invest time and resources in staff training. It was recently awarded the Investors in People standard.

We were also awarded (click on link to read):
Best CUSTOMER SERVICE by a builders' merchant
Best builders' merchant TRAINING initiative of the year runners-up
Best INDEPENDENT BUILDERS' MERCHANT OF THE YEAR runners-up