Improvements at Vital continue to offer better support for retailers

The new management team at Vital Pet Products is continuing to make rapid progress. As well as confirming more key appointments, the company has announced a move to regional teams to support customers more effectively and a new express pick service for smaller orders.

The expanded team at Vital now includes Sam Hearn who takes on the role of Senior Buying Manager. He joins Vital from Poundstretcher and will be applying his experience in purchasing for the pet category to drive value and create exclusive promotions for the independent retailer. Sam is also encouraging new brands to make his buying team their first point of call to help Vital continue to deliver a diverse mix of exciting and appealing products, “Suppliers can benefit from working with us because we don’t stop at listing and distributing. We actively support the brands that work well for our customers.”

Joanne Ward, who previously worked for Regatta PLC and Harry Hall, is Senior Brand Manager for the revitalised company. Retailers can expect to see the new branding for Vital Pet Trade Solutions roll out in the coming months, which reflects how the management team want to partner with retailers to support business growth.

A new regional team structure will ensure that a total of eight areas each have people providing personal customer service who understand the local retailing dynamics. Each region will have a dedicated Customer Relationship Manager and supporting customer service representatives. An intelligent phone system will ensure that retailers are connected with the appropriate area team.

The south of England team is trialling new GPS technology which allows them to provide live information on delivery drops and estimated arrival times. Preliminary results have been so positive that the system is likely to be rolled out across the country by mid-October.

Another innovative move is the new Express Pick service which offers free next day delivery on £60 orders across thousands of qualifying products. This allows retailers to be more flexible and responsive to customer requests while still preserving profit margins.

Director Sunny Sharma says he has been pleased to see how quickly his team has been responding to business challenges and putting in place improvements, “We have some really knowledgeable, experienced people who have built up strong relationships with the trade and brought in people who bring a new perspective and ideas from other business sectors. It’s a powerful mix and it’s great to see the energy and enthusiasm it’s generating in the business.”

To find out more about Vital visit www.vitalpetproducts.co.uk or telephone 01837 883000. Vital is continuing to recruit across the business. For information about joining the Vital team contact Marie Betts, email jobs@vitalpetproducts.co.uk.