National Newsletter

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C U S T O M I S E D V A L U E A D D E D S O L U T I O N S

trend ‘n trade

National NewsletterGREETINGS!

Wow! 2019 has been a whirlwind year so far! Keeping up with so many developments, challenges, opportunities and setting momentum for the year has truly required exceptional efforts from the Essential Team, Members, Suppliers and Partners. I would like to start this newsletter by taking

the opportunity to thank the entire Essential Family for your contribution.

GRATITUDE TO THE ESSENTIAL FAMILYMEMBERSWe are extremely grateful for the positive, entrepreneurial and mature approach that our Members have in the trade, as well as their loyalty to the Essential brand and model, especially during the current challenging economic climate in which short term approaches may look tempting. As will be evident from the 2018 review below, the Essential Member’s performance was generally far above the industry average, which is evidence of the collective impact of the independent model and Essential offerings. We believe that 2019 will be an exciting year for our Essential Members with multiple new developments being implemented. As always, we encourage our Members to actively participate in initiatives and to maximise your membership.

SUPPLIERSA huge thank you to our Suppliers for their support of our Members and the various Essential initiatives. We believe that the positive and respectful approach by both our Suppliers and the Essential Team has re-established respect and trust, setting the platform of maturity into the future. With new approaches required within various sectors of the Southern African economies, Cross-Industry-Partnering will play a major role in growth creation going forward. As a National Buying Group, our role of facilitating relationships and solutions between Suppliers, Members and Communities will be extended to other industries and sectors. We look forward to continuous positive engagement and cooperation with our Suppliers during 2019.

COMMUNITIESTThe communities we operate in play a major role in our Essential eco-system, and we thank those communities for their support of our Members and Suppliers . We acknowledge and thank the huge efforts and investment our Members and Suppliers have also put back into their communities. 2019 has already shown a myriad of community projects driven by the Essential eco-system, with more exciting community initiatives planned for the balance of the year.

AMAZING ESSENTIAL TEAMAs mentioned in our November 2018 Newsletter: The work ethic, selflessness, honesty, effort, commitment and passion of the entire Essential Team is beyond any I have ever experienced. This extends from our cleaning lady (Fikile Khanyi), our entire Head Office Team, Business Development Managers, our Marketing Partner (Green Beetle Branding) right up to the Owners, Messrs Leon and Norman Jackson. The 1st quarter of 2019 has been hectic with even more pressure being put on the team, to not only ensure that the various current customized Essential offerings are delivered to

the highest standard, but to also continuously work on the new developments and initiatives.

A special thank you to the owners for their trust and belief in the team, the strategies and structures set out, and their huge investment into the Group, which we believe that the Essential retail eco-system will benefit from.

I am truly grateful, blessed and humbled to be part of this extraordinary and special group of individuals, who are truly living the Essential Values while working, living and hunting as a Pack of Wild Dogs…Thank you.

REVIEW OF 2018: KEY LEARNINGS AND SUSTAINABILITYThe 1st quarter of 2019 was, as in previous years, challenging, but there have been positive signs as well. Despite multiple macro and micro economic challenges and uncertainties, we are looking forward to an exciting year filled with opportunities and continuous development in order to drive maturity growth for the Essential Family.

MACRO AND MICRO ECONOMYThe South African economy is currently experiencing stagnation, with the macro-economic challenges making things even more difficult. As we all know, the country was waiting in anticipation for the upcoming elections to see where things are heading.

It is no surprise that the retail industry in general remains under pressure, especially considering the retail sector results of 2018 compared to 2017. According to a Stats SA’s monthly survey of retail trade, volume of retail trade increased by 2.1% compared to 2017, with annual volume growth for, “Hardware, Paint and Glass” recording a negative -1.7% slump, compared to 2017.

ESSENTIAL GROUP MEMBER PERFORMANCE Essential Group Members have shown good resilience through 2018. We are extremely grateful that our Members, as a group, have shown overall annual revenue growth of 9%, compared to a negative industry growth. When viewed against the backdrop of 4% increase in total membership (stores) during the 2018, period these figures indicate that the Essential Members’ average growth is substantially higher than the industry growth and occurred within our current Member base, not through the addition of new members.

This performance, in a subdued business economic environment is testament to excellent trading skills by Essential Members, support from our Suppliers and the improvement in the Essential Group Offerings and our commitment to grow existing Members. Member rebate grew by 21%. This reflects closer interaction between

Members, Essential BDM’s & Buyers, improved Supplier deals, improved ratio deals, increased loyalty from Members and improved Marketing.

Despite great performance, by Essential Members, it is critical within the current, to keep our businesses as lean and efficient as possible and to strive to mature as businesses. Due to immature approaches, to and a lack of continuous innovation, there has been a demise of many respected large, medium and smaller businesses over the past year, which is evident from our competitor analysis.

COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT As always, the Essential Group respects the myriad of competitors within the market, whether they are corporate or retail chain groups, hybrid corporates or independents, franchise groups, e-commerce or other buying groups. Each have their strengths and weaknesses. The question is, however, how agile, flexible, customised and sustainable these models are to ensure maturity and growth? Our November 2018 Newsletter projection was accurate in that the independent model has been showing better resilience in the market than the corporate/retail chain groups.

Generally, corporate/retail chain groups have shown a negative growth with the independents, such as Essential, showing positive growth. Obviously, the flexibility and entrepreneurial capability of the independent model has enabled better resilience. However, independents need to think about sustainability. The corporate/retail chain models are backed with centralised financial and systems investment (which has its pros and cons), but still poses a threat in the longer term. True maturity, growth and sustainability for independents will only be possible by combining your entrepreneurial approach with customised strategies, best practice implementation, innovation and continually maturing as a business. There are a few non-sustainable offerings by some of the competitors, which the industry and independents should be aware of. Some independent retailers joining groups with immature and unsustainable models have had to, within only a few months of joining, close their businesses. We have further noted the demise of some well-known brands, from once again not

Reinier van den BerghGroup General Manager – Essential Group

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property role players, retail investors and suppliers of material and product, enabling industry transformation, which will add benefit to the Essential Members in the future. For example, exposing the Essential Group, its Members and Suppliers to SAPOA (South African Property Owners Association) through multiple platforms, initiatives and developed capabilities shows evidence of new market penetration strategy. Watch this space…

• As will become evident, we have developed multiple capabilities and solutions that will directly and indirectly benefit Members in retail maturity, link our Suppliers with additional partnering opportunities and address community challenges (e.g. unemployment levels, empowerment and skill shortages). Some of these capabilities include Supplier and Enterprise development and Infrastructure Channel development. For example: the investment in Site 66, our new Business and Training Centre in Booysens, situated next to the Essential Head Office. These developments endeavour to benefit our Members, Suppliers, Communities and our Cross-Industry -Partners, thereby transforming the industry through innovation, and enabling the Essential family to be sustainable within a true African market.

FINAL WORDSAt the end of 2018, we stated that we needed to be prepared to explore new challenges through new developments. The Essential family is embarking on something great and transformational, which we believe will be transformational, not only for our Members, Suppliers, Communities and Essential, but across multiple Industry Sectors. We also know that this will be done in an extremely challenging, and possibly unknown, economic environment. We have set some huge, but exciting challenges for ourselves, which will require immense effort, innovation, cooperation, collaboration, involvement and continuous support from the entire Essential family. Now is the time we truly need to hunt like a pack of Wild Dogs. I end this letter with the words of Joshua J. Marine:

“Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.”

Wild Dogs For Life!!!Reinier van den Bergh

Group General Manager – Essential Group

where Essential envisages taking the brand with its Members. Investing in the brand facilitates the ability to link Essential Members to new markets, as well as to create valuable brand equity. Following the flexible branding development in 2018, new developments for 2019 include new co-invested dual brand signage for ±70 Essential Branded Stores, multiple platform public relations articles, new print media ad placements, online and app based ad placements, strategically placed billboards and exciting multi-media national brand exposure platforms.

NEW WEBSITES (GROUP WEBSITES AND STORE WEBSITE LANDING PAGES)The phased-in process on development and the major revamp of the new website which started in late 2018 has gone very well, but is only the start of big things to come. Members are encouraged to participate and to utilise these new capabilities. Please see the article relating to our website development.

SYSTEMSIn addition to the Website Development, we have invested in various systems development, which will enhance process efficiencies, as well as improve support and value add to Essential Members. Such developments, include: customized CRM systems, online templates for store specific artwork creation, a new image library, an e-commerce integration platform and registration data base, marketing automation tools and many more.

ESSENTIAL OPERATIONAL OFFERING IMPROVEMENTSThe investment in additional resources, systems, structures and growth solutions have had multiple operational benefits:

• Improved focus, analysis and advisory capability for our operational teams (i.e. Buyers & Traders, Business Development Managers, BDM Agents and Marketing & Sales).

• Major improvement on some of the current deal structures from which the Essential Members will benefit during 2019 and beyond.

• New model and value add development for our Members.

• Bespoke strategic model development for different geographical area requirements.

• New operational offerings and promotional material for Member use.

• Quicker turnaround times for our Members and Suppliers.

• Growth within KZN, Western and Eastern Cape areas.

• Refinement and growth of the Paint Trend and Trade Membership and model.

GROWTH SOLUTIONSThese exciting and transformational solutions range from business analytics, industry network partnering capability developments, strategic sourcing, online capabilities and offerings, infrastructure channel and financial product development, supplier development programmes, site support initiatives and capabilities, etc. These solutions stretch much further and form the basis of various strategies, tactics and actions currently being implemented in aspects, such as supply chain, distribution, market trends, product development, systems development, developer & contractor channels, site-support and other value adds.

• Evidence of benefits already include examples such as the assistance to the Buying and Trading Team for Trade Deal negotiation, especially in regional areas, as well as better market understanding for our Business Development Managers to support current Members (Member advisory) and to target areas where Essential is not well represented.

• Growth Solutions has opened the door to various potential new Cross-Industry-Partners, including

adapting to industry challenges and not implementing sustainable growth strategies. Affected Independents from these brands have shown keen interest in the Essential offering. There are key learnings for Essential and its Members from the above analysis, which is relevant to the strategy that Essential has already embarked on some years ago and defined during 2018.

KEY LEARNINGS It is critical that independent retailers do not fall back into immature approaches, inflexible processes and unsustainable models, but rather to continuously challenge themselves towards retail maturity by introducing new and continuous innovation to ensure adaptability, flexibility and sustainable growth. Applying best practices by using business intelligence, technology and partnerships while introducing new offerings enables Cross-Industry-Partnering, which will become of critical importance going forward, especially within the African environment.

Considering the above, as well as the extremely competitive and saturated environment, the importance of innovation and continuous development to ensure flexibility, growth and sustainability is obvious for the way forward.

SUSTAINABILITY At the risk of being repetitive, it is clearly evident that Essential Members need to ensure they focus on growth in business maturity, which is enabled through the current, enhanced and expanded offerings that Essential provide. Achieve sustainable growth by combining your entrepreneurial capabilities and Essentials’ Growth Solutions.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS – BENEFITING OUR MEMBERS, SUPPLIERS AND COMMUNITIESIn the November 2018 Newsletter, we quoted Jason Jennings and Laurence Haughton with the following: “It's Not the Big that Eat the Small... It's the FAST that Eat the Slow!” We stated that continuous development is required to stay adaptable and agile, in these demanding market conditions, to ensure that our Members and Suppliers are resilient and able to compete effectively in the market, while simultaneously growing the maturity of their respective businesses. Aligning the aforesaid, the 2018 review and the new vision for the Essential Group, the team has been extremely busy improving our customised solution offerings and developing new capabilities to ensure sustainable growth for our Members, Suppliers, Customers, Owners, Staff and Colleagues.

New developments include the following:

BRANDING AND MARKETINGIIntense analysis indicates there is real value in branding, which must be acknowledged with consideration for the variety of sector requirements and

Even while celebrating his 10th wedding anniversary in Switzerland, Reinier flew the Essential Branding at high altitude.

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Essential Growth Solutions is a new division in the Essential Group “stable” that adds value to members of The Essential Buying Group. The purpose and strategy behind this is to ensure the long term sustainability of the Essential goals and mission whilst enabling exponential growth for participating existing members. The new division itself is also justifiable as a standalone division that, whilst adding substantial added value to the Buying Group members, will have the ability to partner with entire industry sectors, such as the property sector via Cross-Industry-Partnering, by leveraging the power of the Buying Group and the footprint of our participating retail members.

We interviewed Andre Annandale to gain deeper insight.

#OrangeOnThe Move

Q: Tell us some of the projects that you plan to do in the community as part of CSI?

(A.A.): The Essential Group and our members have a responsibility to get involved with the communities that are part of our ecosystems. The Essential Group is involved with a number of CSI programmes through/with our members, but we are also busy from the area we operate…Booysens JHB. Two projects currently being undertaken relate to a big clean-up the area. In addition, we’re promoting that other corporates and businesses involved in this Booysens area get involved and take responsibility in our own back yards. We’re promoting Site 66, Booysens, as an icon and landmark in Booysens that other business in the area loom to for guidance as it comes to their CSI involvement. We’ll be hosting our first Booysens community project meeting with other corporates and businesses in the area on the 26th of June where we spec out what the projects for this area are, which we will do for the rest of this year. Site 66 is a location and hub where everyone in the area can come together, plan and use it as a base to work from.

Q: What is the process of procurement and how does it fit in?(A.A.): From a typical buying group, we shift focus to strategic sourcing, which is an important component of procurement. Essential Growth Solutions aims to drive business forward and help evolve businesses into a more mature entity. We offer this strategic sourcing solution to our members and industry partners.

We plan to reignite the strategic sourcing, supplier and member relationships and the total cost of owning products in a manner that the entire industry understands at a deeper, more strategic and mature level. Another important aspect of procurement is contract management. We open the discussion and see how we can bring a solution across all industry partners related to the property and construction market. We unpack everything and see how we can be more effective in terms of the procurement process. It’s important to share knowledge, because we develop customised solutions, not a one-size-fits-all. It’s looking at what is unique to each business or industry’s specific challenges.

Q: How is Essential Growth Solutions aligned with the existing Essential Buying Group Members and help grow the group as a whole?(A.A.): By providing solutions to industries that are aligned with the products and services of our members, the new division adds value to the top line of our existing members. In addition, we’ve implemented other enablers using business analytics, where we identify low sales volumes, gaps in the market for our buying group, a low market share in certain product categories and we use these analytics to identify those problems and address them.

Q: What does the CRM intend to do for the national buying group?(A.A.): The CRM system improves communication between ourselves, to/from our members and suppliers. We give a platform to better interact when it comes to trading and buying to overcome procurement and logistical challenges. In doing so, we create a sustainable model for these businesses. In-line with these sustainability initiatives in business, is the supporting role Site 66 plays as an enabler of these initiatives. Site 66 is a new Business Centre, which is the physical location for Essential Growth Solutions. The facility (Site 66) enables proper implementation of Enterprise & Supplier Development, amongst a host of other facilities on the premises.

Recently, there’s been a buzz in the air about an exciting new division that has been started by The Essential Group – Essential Growth Solutions. In an interview with Andre Annandale, Senior Business Development Manager at Growth Solutions, we unpack what this new division is, and why it matters.

Q: What is Essential Growth Solutions and how did it come about?Andre Annandale (A.A.): With the ever-changing business climate and environment, if you keep on doing what you’ve been doing, you’re going to not only stagnate, but lose market share because things change so quickly.

The Essential Group has evolved from giving operational, marketing, buying and trading support to our members to enhancing those offerings and adding a new division. With sustainability in mind, we have created a new division; Essential Growth Solutions. The purpose of Essential Growth Solutions is to provide turnkey solutions to solve problems and pain points for businesses and industries specifically within the property and construction industry and more broadly across all infrastructure related development, management and maintenance supply chains.

Q: Essential has incorporated technology into bringing comprehensive solutions for this mission. What are these technologies and how do they play a role?(A.A.): We’ve implemented a DIS information system. The software creates a spatial aspect to data that is input. We using it to derive our strategies, help our members with their store strategies, which indicates where they are under-servicing, and where can they improve market share. The system eliminates ‘gut-feel’ and perceptions, it bases your strategies and decision-making on facts without emotion.

ESSENTIAL GROWTH SOLUTIONS

The Retail Brief Africa app is SA's first and only daily news app for the retail professional, offering up to date news in a live environment.

With retailers such as supermarkets, cash n carry's, convenience stores, independent traders, hardware stores, pharmacies, liquor stores and nurseries, all selling a range of products and categories that cross into each others traditional territories, a single news portal is essential in delivering all the required information.Retail Brief Africa addresses the modern human need for up to date news, on demand, at your fingertips.

Essential Growth Solutions is breaking ground with our first media placement in SA Property Owners Association (SAPOA) magazine, the leading trade publication in the property industry sector. In addition to our advert explaining the eco-system, a one-on-one interview with Reinier van den Bergh (Essential Group General Manager) was also published over a double page spread. Essential will be in this publication every month for the rest of the year.

We have also booked as an exhibitor at SAPOA’s premier event of the year, the SAPOA Conference. being held in June. Essential Growth Solutions will be on full display with an entire entourage of delegates from Head Office attending the event and/or participating in Essential Brand awareness promotions in places where delegates will likely visit in the evenings.

Essential Growth Solutions, through these initiatives, aims to assist members and partners to realise exponential growth through Cross-Industry-Partnering.

Available on iOS and Android.

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TRAINING COURSES AVAILABLE: (subject to change and will be phased in over time)• Learnership Programmes (Management & Leadership, Supply Chain & Logistics, Wholesale and Retail) • Credit Bearing Short Courses (Media Relations, Conflict Management, Time Management, Warehouse design and assembly)• Non-Credit Bearing Short Courses (Conflict Resolution and Negotiation Skills, Logistics Management, Fundamentals of Finance)• Compliance Programmes (HIV & Aids Awareness, Advanced OHS Act and Regulations , Fire Fighting & Evacuation) • Technical Training Programmes (Basic Welding, Brick laying etc)

ENABLING CROSS-INDUSTRY-PARTNERING

After our renovations

Visit www.site66.co.za for more information

SITE 66 FACILITIES INCLUDE:±220 Sqm of exhibition space - For those product launches, industry related events or other expo type functions.

x6 Meeting Rooms (boardrooms) - Each with the following facilities: A meeting room table and chairs, a 65 inch Smart TV, teleconference phone, white board & markers, a flipchart and Wifi connection. NOTES: Meeting room 5 & 6 are adjoining and can be setup as individual rooms or opened up to a larger space for those meetings with many attendees.

x2 Conventional Training Rooms - Roof Mounted Projector, HD Camera (record & Livestream), Skype Call facility, white board & relevant Stationary, flipchart, Wifi

x2 Practical Training Rooms - Workbench, air lines, plug points, compressor, dust extraction system. (Plus equipment available for hire:- 3-in-1 MIG / TIG / stick welder, plasma cutter, 200A inverter welder, welding helmets / face shields, air nail-gun, air staple gun, air spray-gun)

x4 spaces Co-Working space - Book by the hour, half day, daily or monthly and utilise our array of business services, including: Packaging materials, courier services, laminating & binding facilities, colour copying, faxing, wifi and a typing service.

SITE 66 - BUSINESS CENTRE OFFERING

Our all-new SITE 66 Business Centre is a key enabler for Cross-Industry-Partnering to The Essential Group, offering comprehensive sustainable supply chain solutions that ensure effective procurement, BBBEE compliance, CSI, accredited training, enterprise – and supplier skills development within a sustainable eco-system, leveraging two KEY enablers:Essential Growth Solutions – Skilled and experienced professionals help identify and solve problems at any point in a supply chain. We utilise skills, knowledge, systems, technology and training to fully integrate and enable cross industry partnering. Essential National Buying Group – Our triple award-winning Buying Group with over 340 independent retail Members and ±350 listed suppliers across Southern Africa.

Both these divisions are services by their relevant specialists and enabled through our new and exciting Site 66 Business Centre

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COMMUNITY: ANNUAL SPORTS DAYS

COMMUNITY: BOOYSENS UPLIFTMENT INITIATIVE PHASE 1 – CLEAN-UP PROJECT

16 May 2019 - Essential Head Office staff and volunteers from Matus, Ball Straathof, Steelmart, Step In - Step Out Rehab Centre and Rashida Landis, a ward councillor in the area, started the Booysens Clean-up initiative around Booysens. We cleaned up pavements, removed old posters and stickers from lamp posts and electricity boxes all along Booysens road from the Police Station to McDuling Motors. We then cleaned the garden section at the corner of Kliprivier Drive where the Booysens Welcome sign is located. The BDMs spoke to business owners along the route to get them involved in this initiative and to informed them about Site 66. Pickitup arranged to pick up the bags of trash and dispose of them. Through this initiative, and the partnerships we have built with other stakeholders in Booysens, we aim to improve our town’s economy and restore the pride and dignity of the people who live and work here. Plusten, Matus, Lawnstar, Ball Straathof and Protek sponsored supplies, and PPC sponsored the boerie rolls for after the clean-up. We are pleased to say that our team received excellent feedback from the local businesses!The Head Office team are walking the talk! - Well done, Wild Dogs!

Head Office staff, members and suppliers were busy again in January and February when various primary schools hold their Annual Sports Days. Once again, we would like to heartily thank everyone that contributed towards these events. We, along with the participating members and suppliers, are proud to be the official sponsor and partner of these annual events, supplying the medals and prizes at the schools. We really appreciate those that took time out to attend the events and show their support for all the little competitors. Thank you to all the schools for hosting us all and for allowing us to be a part of your special days.We hope the children enjoyed them as much as we did.

Members Participation:- Blits elektries - Middelburg Essential- Dendars Hardware - Exclusive Paints - Trichardt Builders Market - Hardware Inc - Impa Paints Witbank - Nigel U BuildSuppliers Participation:- Skilcraft- Promac- PPC- Sephaku Cement- Ruwag

- Risiville Primary- Standerton Laerskool- Laerskool Hoeveld- Secunda Laerskool- Laerskool Amsterdam- Middelburg- Laerskool Tienie Voster- Laerskool Kragbron- Wonderboom Suid- Totiusdal- Villieria- Stephanus Roos- Queenswood Primary- Onderstepoort Primary- Nellie Swart & more...

GRATITUDE TO

WELL DONE TO

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On the 8th of March 2019, Essential was delighted to be the main sponsor for the annual Beesloop Plaaswedloop, which took place in Worcester, to raise funds for Laerskool Worcester-Oos. At this annual event, Laerskool Worcester-Oos’ rugby field is divided into equal blocks, which are numbered. A cow is then let loose on the field. Tickets representing each block were sold to everyone attending the event, and bets were placed on where the cow would leave a “present”. The person who correctly guessed where old Bessie would leave her mark, walked away with an incredible R10 000 prize!

On the 9th of March, the Essential team attended a run in Oudewagendrift, Overhex in Worcester, with approximately 1000 runners participating in this momentous event! We now have our own branded runners in the Western Cape, so be on the lookout for them at Park Runs.

BEESLOOP PLAASWEDLOOP AND OUDEWAGENDRIFT RUN

16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Gift of the Givers and Tricircle have continued their community outreach efforts by distributing food parcel donations to almost 145 families. All the food parcels were received with the utmost gratitude by all the families. Once again, we applaud the tremendous generousity towards those in need!

EXCLUSIVE PAINTS, SUPPLIERS & ESSENTIAL

From the 12th to the 13th of April 2019, NWU held its annual high schools’ netball, rugby and hockey tournament, which was hosted by Hoerskool DF Malan in Meyerton. Exclusive Paints, in partnership with Essential Hardware, handed out branded water bottles to all the competitors, who were grateful for the stellar service & refreshment after working up a thirst.

A special thank you to Ruwag, Medal Paints, Eurolux and Elegant Cornice for also sponsoring the event!

On Friday, 01 March 2019, Tricircle and Gift of the Givers teamed up again to deliver and distribute food parcels and blankets to the residents of Nquthu’s wards 2, 3 & 5, in response to a terrible natural disaster that struck the area recently.

The following day they delivered food parcels and blankets to Nquthu’s ward 11,15 & 17, who had also been affected. They were accompanied by the Mayor of Nquthu Municipality, the Counsillors of the respective wards, Municipal representatives and members of Nquthu’s Disaster Management office.

A week later, they donated food parcels and hygiene packs to 145 orphan-based households in the Ntinini area. These packs will allow these families to sustain themselves for over a month!

The impact of the generosity from Tricircle and Gift of the Givers has been nothing short of a miracle for the families and communities who have been affected. The community is extremely grateful for the continued support that they have been shown.

SHOOTING WITH ESSENTIAL

On the 16th of March 2019, the community members of Pongola, KZN, gathered in their hundreds to participate in the town’s annual Shooting Competition at the Pongola Shooting Range. Essential Hardware was proud to have partnered with the organisers of the event to provide the prizes that were handed out to the best shooters on the day. Well done to all the winners and to everyone who came out and showed their support! The event was a huge success!

TRICIRCLE SHARES THEIR SPIRIT OF GENEROSITY

The team at Tricircle Hardware joined forces with Adam’s Discount Centre and the Umzinto SAPS to take part in commemorating the 16 Days of Activism campaign that takes place every December. This campaign focuses on spreading much needed awareness about gender-based violence.

Youth from Umzinto and surrounding areas were brought to the Shayamoya Community Hall for a special day, where they got to hear talks by various speakers relating to the campaign. The purpose of this information day was to enlighten the youth on what 16 Days of Activism is about and how they can get involved in preventing gender-based violence in their local communities.

Gift of the Givers, a charity organisation who often partner with Tricircle Hardware on community outreach projects, distributed health packs and food hampers to all who attended the function, which were received with big smiles and hearts full of gratitude.

COMMUNITY AND MEMBERS

Hmmm...R10 000??

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REPRESENTING FREE STATE AND NORTHERN CAPE STORES

On the 14th of April 2019, some of our Head Office staff travelled all the way to Durban to compete in the annual Rising Sun Chatsworth Freedom Ultra Marathon! The Head Office staff would like to send a huge shout out to Ebrahim and the Tricircle team, who contributed massively to the successful sponsorship of the event. The Essential banners flew high, and everyone knew that we meant business! This was an exciting event for all who attended, and we can’t wait for the next one!

#ORANGEONTHEMOVE IN CHATSWORTH

OPENING UP NEW MARKETS

Grey College, located in Bloemfontein, recently celebrated the 135th anniversary of the Old Boys Reunion, and the Essential Group was there as a sponsor representing all our Free State & Northern Cape stores.

The reunion evening, held on Thursday 9 May, was AWESOME, with the speeches being live-streamed by DigiTV across the globe. On Friday the Old Boys Rugby team took on Paarl. Our pack leader, Reinier van den Bergh, ran onto the field and participated with his “old" team-mates (that included 5 Springboks and 13 Provincial players). Although Grey College (Old Greys) won the match, the clearly audible competitive War Cries continued from both teams in their changing rooms long afterwards.

On Saturday, the big games between the “A” and 1st teams (Paarl vs Grey) commenced with a busy agenda and plenty of Essential branding in the “College Corner”.

Congratulations to Grey College Old Boys on your anniversary. We’re proud to be associated with the traditions of excellence that you represent.

“Bulletjies” Juniors – School Rugby. 54 000 people attended and The Essential Buying Groups' branding was loud and proud, building the brand in the Pretoria area, via social media, broadcast media (Lekker FM), by all the attendees at the event, and nationally. What a blast, we will be looking out for more opportunities with members for these kinds of events. Thank you Blits Elektries for this recommendation!

Essential and members opening new markets.

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https://events.digitv.co.za/

DiGitv - BRANDING THROUGH SPONSORING - WILDEKLAWER TOURNAMENT

DiGitv - a live-streaming phenomenon that is taking school sports to a whole new level.

On the first weekend in May, the 11th annual Wildeklawer Sports Tournament, held in Kimberley, kicked off in spectacular fashion with a special announcement - all the matches would be live-streamed for the first time! This bold move by the tournament organisers meant that the matches were opened up to a National & Global audience. What a way to step into the future! The inter-school Rugby & Netball competition, covered by DiGitv, was sponsored by Essential. The live-stream of events included our “30 second” Essential TV ads, TV banners and “squeeze-backs”! We even had our Wild Dog pack leader – Reinier van den Bergh – on set, spreading the word about Essential in an interview.

This is yet another initiative being undertaken to expand the Essential Brand for the benefit of Members, the Group and the larger, long term strategy.

In line with our vision of Cross Industry partnering our recently hosted Essential Group Golf Day included a broad spectrum of attendees. People and companies representing our valued supplier network, the property industry, banks, developers, contractors, body corporates, facilities management companies and many other business sectors attended the event. Clearly the newly formed Essential Growth Solutions business is in full swing.

Group General Manager Reinier van den Bergh, in his speech at the dinner thereafter, mentioned that many attendees may find the mix of people “strange”, and it could not have been stated any better. Cross Industry Partnering may feel “strange” but we are confident that our new business model and vision will DISRUPT industries for the better, and benefit our members, participating industry sectors and South Africa at large.

To truly achieve things in business, beyond conventional innovation and hard work, requires learning to become comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Thank you to all the attendees and the Essential staff.

REACHING CROSS INDUSTRY AUDIENCES - OPENING NEW MARKETS

ESSENTIAL CROSS INDUSTRY GOLF DAY - 15 May 2019

WORLD SCHOOLS RUGBY FESTIVAL

The Festival format was established to create the best annual gathering of schoolboy rugby talent in the world, with 10 schools in South Africa invited to join “TEAM SA” to play against 10 teams from across the globe as “TEAM REST of the WORLD”.

Part of the festival included some “Old Boys” teams, of which Greys College was one. Our Essential branding was well represented on the “Old Grey” rugby jerseys when they took to the field and won convincingly!

The following needs to be done to identify Class A & B products:

1. Generate Top 100 by Sales for the period of a year: Use Rand volume to determine the products.

• Top 100 by Profit cannot be used as KVI’s are marked down and profit margins are small.

• Top 100 by Qty cannot be used as you will have products like “Fasteners” that retails in large quantities but is not price sensitive.

2. Class A product identification: Most use the top 20 on total sales. If you only take one or two from each category you don’t get 20% of the right products. Most products come out of the 1st 5 categories.

• Select one product from each department. (Some departments might have 2 products)

• The products selected should give you the Top 20 to be classified as A.

3. Class B product identification • Products remaining after Class A classification has been addressed will be

Class B products. Here use the top 5 products. Other than those in A.

NB: Please note depending on the market there may not be A and B products for all Categories/Departments.

POLICYTop 20 Products –Very sensitive lines

Top KVI Lines

Market related pricing. Needs to be controlled Weekly.

Std mark up on average cost in store at time of receiving new stock.

Non-Sensitive Lines Std mark up on average cost in store at time of receiving new stock

Quantity Break

House Brands

On KVI Lines for Bulk Sales

Everyday pricing

Promotions Should not exceed GP margin of 10%

Price Point Policy Top 0 - 500 items- Rounded to closest 95c 500+ items–Rounded to next Rand

A

B

C

C

National Newsletter

9

How do you stay competitive without sacrificing Gross Profit?

In a very competitive market, you do not need to sacrifice GP to stay competitive. With good business discipline, using a "best practice" Pricing Policy you can manage GP and stay in the game. This can also assist you to leave your store in your Manager’s hands when you take a break and not have to worry if you will lose business or GP. The “Pricing Policy” does just that and makes sure that you are always competitive and competitively priced, especially on your KVI lines, without giving away GP unnecessarily.

Below is a explanation on how the Pricing Policy works.

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY OVERVIEWOPERATIONS

As part of enhancing The Essential Group’s offerings, Essential has been investing in multiple business analytics and research capabilities. Part of this investment was the appointment of Andre Annandale, a Senior Business Analyst. As part of Andre’s continuous research and analysis, Andre will provide a series of industry related research snippets on a regular basis.Construction Industry ReviewAs anticipated in late 2018, the South African economy emerged out of recession in the fourth quarter by achieving 1.4% growth, bringing the overall real annual growth rate to 0.8% for 2018. This is down from 1.4% in 2017, but up from 0.4% in 2016.

When looking at how South African Industries performed in 2018, Construction, together with Mining and Agriculture, all showed negative growth. As per Construction GDP figures, 2018 is marked as the worst annual slump in two decades. Thus, by the end of 2018, the construction industry was in recession (Stats SA – Gross Domestic Product (GDP) 4th Quarter 2018).

Since the last Economic and Infrastructure boom between 2002 and 2008, the construction industry dynamics have changed. As mentioned by Economist David Metelerkamp from Industry Insight at the Afrisam 2019 Budget Breakfast, a few listed contractors have lost more than 70% of their value in the past 10 years (Sharenet, Industry Insight CRMS report). The table specifies changes in share price for the big contractors. As per Metelerkamp, among the changes in the construction industry that had a severe impact on the large-scale developers are:

1. Overall construction sector sluggish, especially civils

2. Historic collusion, loss of trust with their biggest client: government

3. Transformation4. Government started breaking up big

projects into smaller pieces5. Governments financial position (rating

agencies, debt etc.)6. Possibly too many listed contractors,

market somewhat saturated.

But then, how does this impact the Essential Member and our Suppliers? Possibly, in most instances, not as much direct impact by losing out on civil projects and large-scale government maintenance projects, but the consequences do pivot down in various ways to the different levels of business and eventually the consumer. From more fierce competition in the contractor market, pushing down margins and overall pressure on suppliers to follow suite, loss of business confidence, to job losses and pressure on the consumer wallet. Even though there are various initiatives by government to stimulate the construction industry, including cross-industry partnering (i.e. stabilisation of the State Owned Enterprises, Treasury stepping up their infrastructure build programme by partnering with private sector, increase number of blended finance projects, stimulus package as announced in the 2018, Budget speech etc.), many of these initiatives may never be realised, or the benefits could take a long time to trickle down to business and consumer.

Construction Industry – Different Property Sector OpportunitiesWhere would growth in the construction industry come from in 2019? Luckily, the private sector drives the building market.

1. Flats & Townhouse Construction - The private residential market has shown an 8% growth in square meters completed over the last year and flat in terms of square meter plans approved over the last 12-month period. As per Stats SA Building Statistics, there has been a substantial increase of 63.1% more completed flats and townhouse square meters in the past year, relevant to other residential types. As per Metelerkamp from Industry Insight, this segment of the residential market is seeing this growth due to following reasons:

• Developer driven• Cheaper to build/buy• Cheaper to maintain• Better returns in current environment• Province specific• Urbanisation

Shar

enet

, Ind

ustry

Insig

ht C

RMS

repo

rt

Andre AnnandaleSenior Business Development Manager at Growth Solutions

ABC Class

No Class

Could be any class

2. Catalytic Human Settlement Projects – Currently, there are 34 targeted mixed-use projects to integrate communities and optimise urban space, implemented by provinces, metropolitan municipalities and public entities. Also, significant private investment is expected in the affordable housing, rental and economic infrastructure.

3. Industrial & Warehousing – Among the various non-residential private development industries, Industrial and Warehousing has shown a 11.4% increase in building plans passed over the last 12 months, whereas commercial and retail plans passed declined 14% and 20% respectively.

Additional Challenges And OpportunitiesAccording to the Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA), the demise of South Africa’s “big five” construction firms has brought about opportunities for small, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMMEs) to fill the gap in the market.

According to CETA chairperson, Raymond Cele, a new era for the “training authority to embark on innovative skills development. Now is the time to change our approach and look at how we can support SMMEs.”

Multiple contributing factors have resulted in this:

• The emergence of a so-called ‘construction mafia’, which is a group that has been active in ‘destroying’ the construction sector, reportedly having disrupted more than R25 billion worth of projects (or about 78 projects) across the country.

• Small contribution of SMMEs to business in South Africa (40%) in comparison to other countries for example Europe (90%).

• Most SMMEs fail within the first year, with only around 30% of them making it past the first year.

• The revised Preferential Procurement Regulations specify that a third of a project’s work needs to be contracted to SMMEs, as soon as the project cost is higher than R30 million.

• It is envisaged that within the next five years, South Africa needs to train 500 SMME contracting entities (Ignatius Ariyo, Department of Public Works).

Considering the negative, but also positive aspects that we as business face, it is important to be realistic in terms of the challenges that we face and the short to medium term outlook.

Business strategies should be aligned accordingly. Essential believes that the strategies and capabilities developed will benefit our Members, Suppliers and Communities in terms of the above.

Stephan MalanNational

Operations Manager

1. TOP 20 (Class A)Selected by Pulling Top 100 on Sales Value. Take the first 20 Items (From top 100)Revisit every 6 months

(Select largest single competitor to store) Bi-Monthly - main competitor Bi-Monthly - other local competitors

Cheaper than all competitors

Deep Cut

2. TOP 100 (Class B) KVI LINES Selected by Pulling Top 100 on Sales Value. Take item 21 to 100 (From top 100) Revisit every 6 months

Monthly - main competitor

Match competitors pricing

Aggressive

3. NON-SENSITIVE LINES (Class C) Balance of range

6 months cycle - all products to be covered in six months

Opposition price +5%

Emphasis range and match on price

4. HOUSEBRANDS Not Applicable

5. PRICING POINT POLICY The benchmark price must be set taken into account the standard mark ups for the particular product or Category As per Class A, B and C

6 months cycle - all products to be covered in six months

0-500 - rounded to closest 95c.

500 + - rounded to next rand

No need to sacrifice GP

10

BRAND MARKETING STRATEGY

Where are YOU in your retail marketing maturity??

Brand Marketing Strategy – for Members Head Office have built, and manage, key systems and platforms based on Local Store Marketing principles. The tools are focused on reaching your targeted audiences around each members specific address.• It is incumbent upon the member to initiate their own promotions• To commit a budget to the promote their promotions whether for online ads or

printed materials/leaflets. • To ensure their store is sufficiently branded so as to benefit from the branding

efforts of Head Office (Radio, Sponsorships, Online, Site66 and channel development including: developers, contractors, corporates etc)

Members that are not in step with the above strategy are out of step and will not realise the benefit of the bigger picture. Marketing is the life-blood of business and, in the Essential Group, members are given a substantial running start. Part of the maturity cycle of a business is the marketing component. Are you maximising your membership?

THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY – Touchpoints and retention

Members of the Essential Buying Group receive substantial added value, beyond buying, to mature their businesses. In addition to the operational support, buying power and strategy development, this section is dedicated to Marketing support.

Looking at the above info-graphic, it is important to note that The Essential Group offer almost all of these services to Members, throughout the customer journey.Consider the following marketing assistance available to members:1. Website or, at minimum, an online landing page from the main website2. Specials page on the website or landing page3. Database of mainly contractors on around your store address that can be reached by e-mailer4. Facebook Business Page for each store5. HTML e-mailing platform for customised e-mailers per store6. Marketing measurement dashboard per store7. Artwork for your marketing & promotional materials (Essential and/or Co-branded)8. Marketing strategy development9. Online advertising – Google, Instagram, Facebook, other directory or web banners services.10. Google mapping service and inclusion on Essential online store locator11. Mock-ups of store frontage – incorporating specific custom needs12. Add your data to the mailing system (remains your data)13. SMS campaigns as needed (we’ll facilitate for you at discounted rates)14. Assistance with community days and sponsorships15. Lead generation toolsAre you maximising these available tools?

MARKETING BUDGETMost business forget to carefully map out their marketing spend and plan based on a clear strategy. The question always tends to arise as to how much is enough. That question, however, depends on each stores’ current situation and standing in open markets.

For example: As a start up with a total budget of R2m for your entire business, you may allocate 10% to your initial marketing as an investment to get off the ground. Or a simple strategy to maintain your brand recognition in local media, run on a regular scheduled so people get used to it – That alone would be a simplistic form of a workable strategy.

Below are some averages that other industries allocate. Figures are a percentage of revenue.

4.44% – Furniture Stores4.16% – Jewellery, Luggage, and Leather Goods Stores3.84% – Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers2.87% – Other Schools and Instruction2.73% – Beverage Manufacturing2.52% – General Merchandise (this is “roughly” us) 2.18% – Other Amusement/Recreation Industries

2.16% – Home Furnishings Stores1.99% – Personal Care Services1.93% – Restaurants and Other Eating Places1.88% – Specialty Food Stores1.85% – Agencies, Brokerages, Insurance Related 1.83% – Death Care Services

Members and Head Office updating signage Staying in-step with maturing in your marketing your signage and branding are critical components within a broader brand strategy.

“Signage should be seen as your FRONT PAGE of your own newspaper”Does your front page have the impact and brand recognition it should?

In August 2017, an upgrade concept for Store Signage was presented to the Natcom. Shortly after the concept was approved by Natcom Members, there was a combination of store re-branding and new stores being branded with the new look & feel.

The Essential team has conducted a full sourcing exercise to ensure a full end-to-end solution on branding implementation. This covers funding solutions, design & material requirements, supplier recommendation, quality control, etc.

There will also be continuous engagement with members to ensure that feedback on implementation is monitored and that continuous improvement is ensured.

Various other exciting branding initiatives have been embarked on over the past few months giving the Essential brand massive exposure. These include involvement at major events around the country (covered elsewhere in this newsletter) and carrying the Essential brand for everyone’s benefit. (if you’re branded that is)

Through the years Essential have learned some lessons on branding, therefore we know we can continue to drive this new concept with confidence. From what we have seen from the newly branded stores, this is clearly evident, and we strongly recommend that all Essential stores adopt to this new concept.

• THESE GOALS needed to be achieved before Head Office would approve the concept presented…To not lose the current look & feel of the Essential Branding Primary Signage. The old Primary signs and new ones, need to still be identifiable as Essential Hardware members.

• Cut through the retail signage clutter - Every store on the street has tried to be louder than their opposition to stand out. Signage has started looking like a “Smartie Box” and everything is cluttered. KEEP IT CLEAN and CONTEMPORARY.

• It should STAND OUT, not because it is louder, but because it is CLEANER.

• Enable Supplier Participation - This needed to be done in a manner that does not result in a “Smartie Box” store front, yet should do the suppliers brand, and your store, proud.

• Cater for Dual or Full Branding - Some new Members have long-standing brands of their own and need a transition period WITH their brand included in the signage.

• Window Covering, opaque or translucent - We achieved this through a “Wallpaper” effect of DIY & Hardware Tools vector art. This enables branding continuity and recognition from store to store and visually memorable from Marketing Communication to store signage.

• Visually communicate the broad categories that stores stocks… iconography - A combination of visual icons and supplier brands clearly communicate the message whilst also maintaining the visual appeal & classiness.

AWARENESS CONSIDERATION PURCHASE RETENTION ADVOCACY

PR

RADIOTV - PRINT

WORD OF MOUTH

PROMOTIONS

ONLINE ADS

EMAIL

PPC

SOCIAL ADS

REVIEWS

BLOG

BLOG

SOCIALNETWORKS

MEDIA

COMMUNITYFORUM

ECOMMERCE

DIRECTEMAIL

STORE

WEBSITE

FAQKNOWLEDGE

BASE

NEWSLETTER

National Newsletter

11

MEMBER NEWS

NEW WEBSITE

Elcarbo Hardware

Carry On Hardware

Puleng Sand & Hardware Japsons Hardware

King’s Paint & Hardware

trend ‘n trade

Tee Gee Building Supplies Valhalla General Dealers

Paint Trend ‘n Trade Balkin HardwarePaint Trend ‘n Trade - Zambesi

Robot Booysens

On the 13th of April 2019, Suhail (in the middle), from Right Price Hardware, was awarded second place for the highest sales in the Region of the Midlands area at the AML/Afrisam Awards, held at the Elangeni Hotel in Durban.

Congratulations, Suhail!

AML/AFRISAM AWARDS

On a recent store visit to our members in Namibia, Stephan and Reinier where able to also take in the beauty of this country.

RIGHT: Incredible temporary office view.BELOW: Marc Egner from E Hard Build Centre welcoming Stephan.

NAMIBIAESSENTIAL MALL@55 - GRAND LAUNCH

On Saturday, 26 January 2019, Head Office staff joined Jamal to celebrate the official Grand Launch of his Essential Hardware, Mall@55 store, located in Centurion.The day was filled with fun for everyone. Many suppliers put up gazebos in the parking lot across from the store to conduct demos of their products. There was a jumping castle and face painting for the kids (and some of the adults too) to enjoy.Congratulations to the lucky winners of the competitions and giveaways on the day! They walked away with a variety of prizes, including bags of cement and speciality cleaning products. We would like to congratulate Jamal, the owner of Essential Hardware Mall@55, on his successful launch, and wish him all the best for the future. Jamal is now the proud owner of two Essential stores - well done!!

THE ROLLOUTThe recommitment to the importance of the Essential Group branding is clearly evident in the 2019 marketing approach. Q1 of 2019 kicked off with almost 70 strategically selected stores, that met a set of criteria, receiving branding in the form of signage, from Head Office, for their stores. This together with our broader advertising strategy across multiple print publications, Radio (in Gauteng), sponsorships and billboards in various provinces and a variety of other partnering platforms ensures we’re BUILDING BRAND RECOGNITION and invite you to leverage from our efforts…GET BRANDED.

In addition to the scheduled NATCOM meetings, we have introduced a series of REGIONAL meetings where all members in an area are invited to attend.

This was introduced to improve the flow of communications especially during these recent times with so many new and exciting projects simultaneously underway. It became apparent that the complexity of some of these projects required one-on-one time to properly convey the execution of the long term Vision.

To date we have already hosted these in W. Cape, E. Cape and Free State, with other areas planned in the near future.

We look forward to meeting with you and encourage you to make time to attend to understand the opportunities for growth we are working hard to achieve for our members and industry partners.

NEW REGIONAL MEETINGS

Members only area - Login and get familiar with the new website and access the latest Deals. BDM's will help you through this if needed.

Nigel U Build

12

ALL PLUG SALES CCAML DISTRIBUTIONS (PTY) LTDCASLAD AGENCIES CCCEMZA (PTY) LTDCENTRAL EXECUTIVE NETWORK (PTYDYNAMIC DISTRIBUTORS (PTY) LTDECO RUBBER WATERPROOFING GECKO GRILLS GEYSER INDUSTRIES HAMAKOM ENTERPRISES HENDOK DISTRIBUTIONHYPERBUILD SAND & STONE CCIBCORRKWIKTILE PRODUCTSLINTEL TECH CCLOOMCRAFT FABRICS MEGAMASTERPOWER SYSTEMS AIR COMPRESSORS PULSE HOLDINGS (PTY) LTDQUALITOOLS REINFORCED HOSING (PTY) LTDRNS STEEL (PTY) LTD TCK RETAIL SOLUTIONSUSABCO INDUSTRIES

031 701 5762031 462 7401011 397 7883010 446 8451012 481 3672011 624 2892079 645 6988016 065 0051011 974 0131082 938 1450031 507 6731011 744 3414010 045 3622

012 819 1497011 760 3603012 802 1515011 900 2771031 368 5857086 178 6657 011 769 2600012 751 2604011 075 8100021 917 2000

www.allplugsales.co.zawww.amldistributions.comwww.caslad.co.zawww.cemza.co.za

www.dynamicdistributors.co.zawww.ecorubber.co.zawww.geckogrill.co.zawww.geyserindustries.co.za

www.hendok.comwww.hyperbuild.co.zawww.ibcorr.co.za

www.linteltech.comwww.loomcraft.co.zawww.megamaster.co.za

www.pulsegroup.co.zawww.qualitools.co.zawww.watex.co.zawww.rnssteel.co.zawww.tckrs.co.zawww.usabco.co.za

PlumbingCementToolsCementServicesElectricalWet trade/otherGarden & OutdoorWet trade/otherGeneral hardwareMetal & fencingWet trade/otherRoofing materialsWall & floorCementDecorativeGeneral hardwareGeneral hardwareWall & floorToolsWet trade/otherSTEELDecorativeDecorative

NEW SUPPLIERS

Now switched on...

MEMBERS & SUPPLIERS... We would love to publish your news/events/initiatives in our next newsletter and online. Please email your articles and pictures through to Head Office.

WELCOME - NEW MEMBERS & SUPPLIERS

ON THE LIGHT SIDE...

COMING SOON

Members, remember to check and post on your free business facebook pages. Keep the posts “social” and your customers will enjoy seeing what your store is up to! Don’t underestimate the power of social platforms and customer engagement. It is an easy & cost effective platform... make use of it.

The Essential Group officially launched an alliance with BKB Limited at their newly branded store, located in Port Elizabeth, on the 22nd of February 2019! We would like to warmly welcome the BKB Group on board. We look forward to working with you!

BKB LIMITED

Cemza CementOur cement is carefully formulated and milled to create structures that are hardy, wear resistant and extra strong.

Use Cemza for non-stop strength you can rely on.The project is a joint venture strengthened by the partnership with Heidelberg Cement, a shareholder and one of the largest building materials companies, which operates in 60 countries on five continents and boasts some 3 000 production sites.

Area contact:W/C: Craig Gallie 076 906 8071E/C: Wesley Goosen 072 212 5984KZN: Craig Gallie 076 906 8071

MegamasterEstablished in 1997, Megamaster is the new

largest supplier of lifestyle cooking and heating products to the Southern African market, with an expanded market presence in Europe. Megamaster exists as part of a partnership of expertise and resources to bring the best quality and value to our customers and consumers around the world.

Key accounts managerCP LOUW - 082 799 9614cp.louw@megagroup.co.za

USABCO - AddisAddis is not just an ordinary company; it's here to make your life easy every step of the way. A helper, a bearer of treats, a keeper of goods and so much more, Addis creates products to make your life easier - and our quality is backed by our approvals from Sedex and Disney. We take pride in this fact, and our continued innovation is what keeps us at the top of the pile.

Key accounts managerVANESSA MOODLEY - 084 949 1976vmoodley@usabco.co.za

QUALITOOLSQualitools are passionate about the local and international sourcing and

wholesale supply of quality tools and related products. We have been servicing our Southern African customer base since 1995 and continue to grow and improve our business.

Key accounts managerGLENN BOSHOFF - 071 895 7319glenn.sales@qualitools.co.za

HENDOKCommitted to delivering the best in terms of product and process, we manufacture an extensive range of world-class wire products. These include low, medium and high carbon steel wire and wire products for construction, industrial,

commercial, agricultural, mining, roofing, wirewall and fencing applications.

Key accounts managerMONTY DU TOIT - 082 653 5835 monty@hendok.com

BRICKS FOR AFRICA HONEYDEW GAUTENGMAS HARDWARE VENTERSBURG FREE STATEMOTUS AFTERMARKET PARTS IMBIZO HARDWARE KWAZULU NATALDIY BUILDERS KWAZULU NATALHEJOSTA HARDWARE GAUTENGBARNEYS PAINT CENTRE EMMARENTIA GAUTENG MAKWELENG BUILDING MATERIAL NORTH WESTH&L HARDWARE THEUNISSEN FREE STATEH&L HARDWARE BRANDFORT FREE STATEHANDI IN GARDENIA PARK FREE STATEBRANMARC HARDWARE KWAZULU NATALINTERNATIONAL HARDWARE KWAZULU NATALQUALLY TILES & MORE KWAZULU NATALTINAZONKE TRADELINK KWAZULU NATALKING’S BUILDING SUPPLIES KWAZULU NATALFIRMABUILD AGGREGATES GAUTENGCELADON HARDWARE GAUTENGCHIEF STEEL & HARDWARE FREE STATEDIY HARDWARE NORTH WESTLIFESTYLE - WALLMANSTHAL GAUTENGABOO BROTHERS LIMPOPOTRADEBUILD AFRICA STORES KWAZULU NATALBKB LIMITED STORES NATIONALPTNT - BALKIN HARDWARE FREE STATEPTNT - FAVRIT HOME CENTRE KWAZULU NATAL

NEW ESSENTIAL GROUP MEMBERS

Reinier flying the flag for the Essential Group at the Saint-Gobain Golf day! Pictured here with Jeanne De Power(National Sales & Marketing Manager - Saint-Gobain)

Supplier website toolsNew website…New opportunities for suppliers to promote their brands, products, and specials to our members & buyers in a place where buyers are looking and making buying decisions. Chat to our Essential Buyers for more info.