Dealer Support November/December 2023

LEADERSHIP

ENGINEERING CHANGE

Transforming United: How bringing warehousing back in-house changed everything We chat with managing director GRAHAM BOURTON about a transformational 2023 and how bringing warehousing back in house was the ‘best thing they’ve done.’

S

ometimes, it takes a crisis to engineer change,

WHEN SURVIVAL INSPIRES CHANGE

and a lot has changed at United over the past few

For a major dealership like United, the financial hit from COVID

years. Despite still clawing its way back from the

was severe, as Graham Bourton explained, “The pandemic was really

pandemic-induced slowdown, managing director

tough for us, like everyone else. We went from nearly £2 million a

Graham Bourton feels positive about the future,

month to £200,000 a month overnight, so it was a big drop.”

and is clearly happy in his work right now.

“We’re having a great year, and we’re having a great time,” he told us. “We’re really enjoying business again, if I’m honest.”

With United being such a big reseller, Bourton noted that it seemed to fall between the gaps for government support, apart from the basics like furlough. Nevertheless, the company battled through and has

Winston Churchill is credited with saying “Never let a good

been steadily rebuilding since then. At the time, United was a stockless

crisis go to waste,” and United certainly buy into that. Taking the

dealer, and with the loss of its wholesaler coming hot on the heels of

challenges of the pandemic as an opportunity to make the business

the pandemic, the company was forced to go to a third-party logistics

leaner and more efficient has led to a new United, and a new,

provider to maintain some semblance of normality.

“We partnered with a 3PL, and that in itself was tough - it was

positive outlook on the future.

[16] NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

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