Case: Just two years to double in size.
The perspective of Kees Gerritse and Bert Bunschoten, former owner and present CEO of Isero (f.k.a. Gerritse IJzerwaren).
The market in which our ironmongery and tools company operates, used to be much more fragmented. Served by several family owned wholesalers, each with their own network of smaller, regional distributors. This is hardly surprising, considering the importance of having a local presence in our business. Because builders and contractors need to be close to their supplies.
However, we saw a clear rationale for increasing our scale. Particularly because of the benefits of centralizing our warehousing, product procurement and commercial support functions. This meant that a buy-and-build strategy was the best option for further growth. Acquiring other similar companies to cover more regions and expand our local network.
When the investment team presented this strategy, it was clear that they understood our business and saw the potential. So Kees felt confident that they were the right people to take over the company, as there wasn’t a successor within his family. Once the transaction was completed, they assisted in finding an experienced management team and we got to work. Strengthening the platform by introducing a new ERP-system and an optimized pricing strategy. Enabling the full integration of five important add-ons to our company; Breur, v.d Winkel and three smaller competitors. This allowed us to double in size in just two years and claim the market leadership position. Something we wouldn’t have pulled off without the support of the investment team.