When Paul Kilbride got his first job working in a Bristol bookshop, he couldn’t have guessed that more than 40 years later, he would be at the helm of a £250million business and counting.
The chairman and chief executive of the Troy Group, this year nominated for Large Business of the Year in the Western Morning News Business Awards, didn’t go to university and says he has had only three jobs in his life.
But his business-building career has taken him all over the world and for the past 12 years he has been riding a wave with Troy UK, one of the biggest industrial engineering suppliers in the UK.
“I guess I’m an optimist,” Paul, 59, says from his office at Exeter Sky Park, overlooking the runway at Exeter Airport. “And I’ve always been good at spotting trends, seeing potential.”
Building a multi-million firm
And that’s exactly what happened with Troy UK. He bought it in 2010 when the owners retired after 25 years. He recognised the purchasing group business was ‘100% scalable’ and has turned what was a £30million turnover operation to £250million turnover (in 2021) with ambitions to hit £500million in the next five years.
What started as a purchasing group of local engineers' merchants who wanted to negotiate the best deals with manufacturers is now considered among the country’s largest tooling and industrial supplies buying groups which also provides extended back room support for its members.
The business operates by passing on bulk-buy prices to its membership of trade, industrial and DIY counters on products sourced from more than 400 suppliers including top brands Makita, Bosch, Stanley and DeWalt.
It has seen massive growth over the past 12 years, growing from 100 to 400 members and a suppliers list of 12 to around 400. What started as just supplying cutting and precision engineering tools has grown into hand and power tools; personal protective equipment, hygiene and janitorial products; maintenance, repair and overhaul equipment and products; fasteners and vendor managed inventory services.
He said: “Every major brand is represented by the group. These brands weren’t interested in little Troy with a turnover of £30milllion but with £300million, we’ve got their full attention.”
As well as the group’s collective buying power, Troy now offers services that can help its members compete with trade tool giants like Screwfix and Amazon in terms of range and next day delivery.
Paul said the big multinationals - the transactional disruptors - bring a lot to the table (in fact Troy UK headhunted staff from the Yeovil base of the Kingfisher Group - owner of B&Q and Screwfix - but what they can’t do is give the same level of advice, expertise and experience of the small indie network.
Family business supporting family businesses
And as a family business - Paul’s wife Lexi works in accounts, elder son Alex, 24, is in IT and youngest, Oz, 21, manages the business’ fleet of 150 vehicles - he said it is "family business supporting other family businesses".
As a young boy, Paul moved with his mother from London to be close to family in Bristol after the death of his father. When she became ill years later, Paul went straight from school into work - starting at a bookshop.
He said: “I remember the book salesmen turning up with their fancy cars and being impressed because I’ve always loved cars and I thought ‘I want to do that’ and I set about becoming a salesman myself.”
He went on to work for gas mask firm Moldex, helping it grow from a £3million to a £25million turnover operation and running its bases throughout Europe by the age of 33.
Did he ever feel daunted at the scale of his work at such a young age? “No, I was enthusiastic and I was quick to learn, that really helps,” he said.
After three years in a large plc, he bought precision tooling manufacturer Eurogrind in Swansea which is still part of the group today.
He said he bought Troy UK at just the right time, suiting their sons’ age and stage of education. Now, the business is on the cusp of expanding over another floor at its Skypark offices, which the firm moved to from its former home in Barnstaple for strategic reasons in 2018.
It still has a warehouse in Barnstaple and a base in Rotherham. Paul explained: “I liked the building, number one, but it also suited us in terms of getting the right staff. We liked Barnstaple but we could not find or attract the talent we needed to grow.”
Exeter Chiefs
Being based at Exeter’s newest office development site is a vote of confidence in the city. Troy was also named shirt sponsor for the Exeter Chiefs in April. The family are big rugby fans and the Chiefs’ philosophy fits with the Troy ethos.
Paul said: “The Chiefs are known for their team ethic, bringing on brilliant grass roots players through the Academy and blending them with talented signings. They’re known for that long term vision and that’s what we’re about too.”
He said the secret to success has been ‘invest, invest, invest’ in people and in digitisation, which has been ‘transformational’ for the firm and how it operates.
Data and acquisition
Troy UK acquired THS Group in 2017 and went on to secure £25million funding from Santander before acquiring Applegate Marketplace, the online procurement platform in October.
Applegate’s expertise in data analysis and AI will help the firm to spot and adapt to new trends, said Paul, adding that the future of the business is ‘all about data’. It is also the parent company of United Tooling Solutions which announced a series of acquisitions this year.
Right now, the current economic climate is bringing its own challenges alongside the pandemic recovery and supply chain issues with the Chinese lockdown policy and war in Ukraine..
He said: “Our forecasts have been accurate and we are experiencing turbulent times, I think we have been in recession for at least three or four months. I think that we are going to see a squeeze on cash and we have to get inflation under control. We will just have to see how it unfolds.
“I’m an optimist, our business to trade is around 5% down but our business to process is around 20% up, because of global supply chain issues, people want to buy local again and support manufacturing.”
The drive this year is to offer support for businesses to take an omnichannel approach to selling. Recent launches have included providing members with their own ecommerce websites with Troy providing back-end website technical support and expertise for free.
It also plans for this year include international expansion and extending market share in construction and facilities management.
“We have never had a problem growing because our offer is so scaleable and adaptable to different markets. The biggest threat to Troy is ourselves - that we shoot to high and don’t deliver, that’s why we plan for structured growth.”
The value of mentorship
Part of that journey has been supported by Paul’s business coach, Brad Sugars, the US entrepreneur and founder of Actioncoach. Paul has been working with him for five years and describes it like ‘seeing a psychologist for business.”
He said: “He has been challenging me for the past five years. I have spent time with him in Vegas and he has the benefit of a network of thousands of coaches working with businesses who all come against the same problems and can help find solutions.
“If we’re going to be really honest, I would say that most people could do with having someone to bounce around ideas with.”
And Paul has plenty with those, with all the family involved in the firm. He admits: “We talk about business around the dinner table - it’s dreadful, really. But I’m not the worst one either, it will be my sons, saying ‘Dad, what about this’ or ‘we've got an idea for that’. It’s part of us, it’s what we do.”
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