Tag Archive for: Entrepreneur

SCH Supplies Entrepreneur

SCH Supplies Entrepreneur: In 1987, entrepreneur Andrew Rodwell noticed a gap in the market when he became frustrated at the lack of suitable lawn care attachments to fit to his garden tractor.  With the help and encouragement of Malcolm Vandenburgh at Wests Engineering Ltd, the pair set about designing and manufacturing a range of grass care machinery. Before long, SCH (Supplies) Ltd was created and began selling machinery to the public from their workshop in Holbrook, Suffolk. Malcolm later continued with his core business at Wests.

To market and grow the company, SCH attended many garden machinery shows cross the country, talking to potential customers and machinery dealers, who sell products on behalf of SCH. As of 2019, SCH have over 800 machinery dealers across the UK and Europe, who drive the majority of SCH’s sales.

SCH Supplies Entrepreneur

Andrew has always encouraged his staff for input on the companies’ products, which has been an essential driving factor to their profile of over 250 machines, ranging from grass care and flail mowers to trailers and leaf collectors. There is a wide range of experience at SCH, as their 25 employees design, manufacture and deliver their products themselves.

After reaching the grand age of 80 last December, Andrew has decided to hand the reigns over to two of his long term employees, Ian Holder and John Free, as he takes a well-earned retirement. He’s happy to be leaving the thriving company with an annual turnover in excess of £1.5 million.

Ian and John have been with SCH for 14 years each, and will be adapting their previous roles as the works manager and accountant to run and oversee the company. Andrew is sure they will continue his entrepreneurial spirit, as new and innovative products will be added to the SCH range in the coming years. They are fortunate enough to have an enthusiastic and dedicated team to support them, including Alan Lawrence, who has helped smooth the transition by taking over many responsibilities of the works manager.

SCH produce over 50,000 copies of their free 80 page brochure, which contains their most popular products. Many of these have been inspired by the unique and innovative requests by customers over the past 33 years. If you have any ideas that you would like to see manufactured, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01473 328272, email sales@schsupplies.co.uk, or visit our website to find out more www.schsupplies.co.uk

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