In November 2011 the team at Carbomat UK faced its most challenging period to date. This was as a result of the surprise DECC announcement informing the industry of a dramatic change to the FIT (feed in tariff), and that the 12th of December 2011 would be the deadline for installations to qualify for the 43p tariff over 25 years. The rate thereafter would be lowered to 21p. The speed and depth of this reduction caused mayhem in the UK PV market as installers nationwide were overwhelmed with orders for installations of PV kits.
In the hours after the announcement the Carbomat team met and agreed on a simple strategic plan to allow us to provide maximum service and satisfaction to our customers. Our main objectives were to initially focus on supporting our existing customers and to take on new customers as and when we could confirm their requirements. We gave some priority to customers requiring full system components as opposed to potentially selling out of one area in our product range. This enabled us to manage our stock effectively whilst also ensuring our customers had enough kit to complete their clients’ installations. This put us in a good position as we were able to supply many more customers than we would have been able to manage had we not managed our stock throughout the 6 week period.
At the height of demand the whole Carbomat UK team pulled together and worked centrally from our offices in Chertsey, Surrey. Our field sales team travelled from as far as Scotland to help with the huge number of calls, enquiries and orders. We were heavily supported by our colleagues across the Carbomat group in Belgium, who were able to use their experience and supplier contacts to help keep our UK warehouse supplied.
By keeping in close and constant contact with our warehouse, we were coping with up to ten times our normal volume of orders per day. The warehouse had to take on additional temporary staff to manage the continuous flow of orders. We managed to maintain a 2-5 day delivery window which we felt was a big achievement considering the immense work load.
During this period we are proud to say that all of our customers received product on time and were able to complete their installations prior to the 12th of December, we received numerous mails and letters commending the team on their service and support.
We would like to thank all our customers for their patience, loyalty and support during this period. At the time of writing we face further uncertainty over the FIT and again face increased demand for product and information. Our customers can be assured Carbomat UK have a positive outlook on the PV and renewables market and are working even harder in 2012 to support our customers.
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| Members of the sales team hard at work at Carbomat UK in Chertsey, Surrey |
