During a challenging 16 months Hoppecke Industrial Batteries has seen a significant uplift in sales against the backdrop of a market downturn. Coping well with the challenges posed by Brexit and the impact of coronavirus, the company continues to make customer support its priority.
General Manager Stuart Browne says: “All businesses have encountered problems and have had to adapt. We’re no different. Key strategic planning helped to mitigate any fall out from Brexit. However, our achievements are largely down to a team effort to pull together and support customers throughout the pandemic.”
The market for motive power batteries was down around 25 per cent in 2020/21. However, Hoppecke bucked the trend, growing sales by more than 15 per cent over the previous year.
Its robust plans ensured a seamless transition following Brexit. In one respect then, it has been business as usual since 1 January 2021.
Maintaining good stock levels throughout 2020 was key. Crucially, it has also helped to satisfy an upsurge in demand due to the uncertainties created by Covid-19. Customers know they can rely on Hoppecke for an uninterrupted supply of batteries and chargers along with unfailing service and maintenance support.
Orders for the foreseeable future are well ahead of projections, as Hoppecke is seeing increased levels of business both with existing and new customers. In fact, its Staffordshire hub is busier than ever since its workload has increased around 40% over the past year.
Throughout the pandemic Hoppecke UK has retained all its employees, boosting business stability. Meanwhile, to cope with increasing demand, the company is recruiting to strengthen its warehouse team. Temporary staff that joined the business in recent months are moving into full-time roles.
During the lockdowns and various restrictions the Hoppecke team has focussed on helping customers. Some staff in administrative roles have been working remotely but by implementing appropriate measures to keep everyone safe, the production team continued working on site. Similarly, throughout the pandemic Hoppecke has maintained full engineering support for customers nationwide.
Hoppecke is committed to battery assembly, sales, rental, refurbishment and servicing in the UK for the long term and Stuart is upbeat about the future.
He adds: “The UK is really getting to grips with the pandemic and I believe we’ve overcome the biggest challenges. At Hoppecke we’re hoping that 2021/22 will be less volatile. Most importantly, we’re looking forward to seeing those businesses most severely impacted by Covid-19 bounce back.
“As always, customer support remains our number one priority. With a bigger warehouse team and our engineering crew at full strength our ability to deliver high standards of service is undiminished.”
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