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More often than not, a business is started as a consequence of its founder recognising a need for a particular product or service in an established industry. The difficulty is in gaining traction for whatever the new offering might be, especially if the ‘old guard’ benefits from seemingly unshakable long-term relationships with the new company’s target clients. Imagine, then, the huge difficulty in launching a business centred around a brand-new product nobody has yet demanded. This was the challenge facing Dominic Wishlade when he launched Dura and its range of modular workshop storage solutions in 1997.
“Back then, dealers focused almost entirely on their front of house,” explains Stephen Jacques, an experienced commercial export manager who joined Dura fifteen years ago in order to establish and grow the company’s overseas distribution networks. “An OEM would often dictate the need for branded mats, floor tiles, wall decorations and signage in keeping with predetermined corporate branding guidelines, but beyond this, it was down to dealer management to allocate budget for kitting out the accompanying workshop, which would often be hidden from customer view.” With so much money spent making the showroom look good, there was seldom any funds left to make a meaningful impact on the presentation and organisation of where cars were being worked on. Additionally, attitudes were
