THE IMPORTERS Gosling Brothers 24 An organisation which has managed to find a superb blend between tradition and a modern and efficient business op eration: that's Gosling Brothers. From the big warehouse in Dundonald Street in the capital Hamilton, large quantities of spirits, wines and, above all, beers (Amstel and Amstel Light) are sold. The business is run by the Gosling family under President and C.E.O. Douglas Blunden, who is also closely connected to the family. Seven Goslings are rep resented in the management. Charles Gosling is marketing manager of Gosl ing Brothers. 'The fact that we form a close-knit family certainly has its ad vantages, both for the running of the business and for our customers. If a cus tomer ever has problem with a delivery of products, he can pick up the 'phone and get one of the Goslings on the line. We have divided up the management responsiblities between us, but each one knows what the others are doing and can help the customer out straight away.' Internally, too, the close family links offer great advantages. You can solve problems more easily if they can be discussed in the family. You can talk openly, with no hard feelings, and so be more effective in finding solutions. Service Gosling Brothers had 82 full-time and 12 part-time employees last year. Employees who play an active role in providing service to the customer, for service is regarded by Gosling Brothers as an important instrument for business success. Charles Gosling can see the im portance of service to the customers growing further in the near future. 'The alcohol market on Bermuda has stabilised. Growth has stopped, so we will now have to focus more than ever on the customer and on his wishes, for instance with regard to distribution.' Proudly Charles reports that Gosling Brothers currently sends trucks out on the road twice a day from Mondays to The main Gosling Brothers store in the capital Hamilton. Fridays to ensure prompt deliveries. In addition, a delivery round is made once every Saturday (and twice in cases of need). Gosling's distribution organisa tion is so advanced that the customer can expect to receive his delivery by about noon if he has phoned through his order before 9.30 a.m. that same day. Since Gosling Brothers sells not only Amstel but also some nine hundred different wines and almost one hundred brands of spirits, a good distribution system is crucial. An order placed by a bar, restaurant or hotel often involves a substantial batch of several cartons of wine, several cases of spirits and many cases of Amstel and Amstel Light. The turnover rate for wine and spirits is not as fast as that of beer. Which is why these products are kept strictly separate by Gosling Brothers during order processing. Gosling's warehouse has three floors. The top most is reserved for the spirits, whilst the cellar is (obviously) for the wines. The ground floor is kept clear for re ceipt of the imported products, for mak ing up the orders and for beer storage. Early in the morning the employees of Gosling's start putting the orders to gether. 'We aim to get the trucks en route for the first round by about 10 a.m. On average we load ten to fifteen orders on each truck and start the route at the nearest customer. Naturally we make allowance for special wishes; the customer takes pride of place. From a distribution point of view we may not perhaps always be working with op timum efficiency, but we gotta keep the customer satisfied', says Bill Booth, dis tribution manager of Gosling Brothers. 'The company has a great name in the customer's eyes. Just because we em phasise the service. It's a good opera tion.' The average stock of Amstel stored at Gosling Brothers is enough for one and a half months. 'With sales of three to four thousand cases a week, you cer tainly need that stock. Besides, the de livery times of Amstel beer from Holland may fluctuate. Sometimes it takes eight weeks from ordering before we get the beer here and sometimes, if everything fits together with the production facilities in Holland, we receive the beer as quickly as four weeks after sending in the order', says Charles Gosling. Advertising and sponsoring lb bring the Amstel brand to the con sumer's attention, Gosling Brothers does a lot in the way of advertising and sponsoring. The Amstel importer almost always uses the local radio station for its advertising messages. 'For a sixty- second radio commercial they only THE WORLD OF HEINEKEN i\oro^i .rpfliil wines GOSUNG BROTHERS LIMITED shuits iiiowisumrai

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World of Heineken | 1989 | | pagina 24