Headlam – A century of modernisation

A year on from Headlam’s announcement it would be integrating all its disparate regional businesses under the single, nationwide brand of Mercado, the distributor returned to The Flooring Show this year with key updates about its progress and strategy moving forward. Although this year marked Mercado’s 100th anniversary, the impressive milestone has been no cause for complacency – in fact, the group is pursuing its ambitious goals with more urgency than ever, Headlam tells The Stocklists.

While change is rarely easy, the post-COVID era saw the group recognise the necessity for a number of adjustments within its business to maintain its market-leading position. Consolidation has been a challenging process, logistically and in terms of maintaining historic relationships with customers, however with a lot of that groundwork now complete, Headlam is now focusing its messaging on the benefits this streamlining brings for independent retailers. In a nutshell, those benefits are the simplification of doing business with the group and subsequent improvements to service that simplification will enable.

As a company with a long heritage and existing nationwide operations, Mercado was the obvious choice for an umbrella brand, Headlam explains, with more than half of its customers already having an account with the distributor. Now, with the consolidation of 64 brands complete, some customers have gone from having as many as 27 separate Headlam accounts to just one.

This simplification extends to the group’s product offering too, which has been streamlined to create one national product and price list, all available via Mercado’s website. Aiming to improve the customer experience by cutting down on the amount of time retailers have to spend securing products through different suppliers, Headlam now aims to supply all of its ranges through a one-stop-shop approach. Around £4m has also been spent on new POS materials and sampling, which has largely been provided to customers free of charge.

Designed to deliver maximum impact with a smaller footprint, the new award-winning Lifestyle Floors POS stands have already made a strong impression on our customers. They are also being rolled out for Kersaint Cobb, with Kingsmead mini lecterns launching in Q4. The new stands, created to showcase top-selling ranges, feature interchangeable graphics, premium LED back-lit displays, and standardised sample sizes to create a more cohesive, consumer-friendly experience. Sampling has also been enhanced with updated swatch books, and clearer range labelling, making it easier for retailers to present collections effectively to their customers.

One area the company is continuing to expand with further investment is its sustainability initiatives. Particularly important to the contract market already, environmental responsibility is likely to become more of a factor for retail consumers, Headlam says, based on existing research about what younger buyers are prioritising. As such, the company aims to maintain its leading position on sustainability, with four sites to support its take-back schemes around the country and plans for more in the works.

While the past several years have presented numerous challenges for the flooring industry, Headlam’s bold strategic moves have put the group in a position to thrive when the market hopefully begins to recover in 2026.

www.headlam.com