PR 38043
29 July 2016

Norbord's OSB campaign helps JT Atkinson boost sales of SterlingOSB

Norbord's SterlingOSB promotional campaign has delivered impressive results for North of England builders' merchant, JT Atkinson.

Norbord's SterlingOSB promotional campaign has delivered impressive results for North of England builders' merchant, JT Atkinson.

The family-owned company, which has 24 branches across Tyneside and Cumbria, has been running the campaign since late March and has seen sales of SterlingOSB increase significantly over the past couple of months.

"Norbord provided us with a promotional package including posters, point-of-sale information and giveaways. In addition and key for us, their reps came in and did some in-store training for our sales staff," says the company's timber development manager, Jonny Atkinson.

"The training was all very informal and relaxed; it gave our people the knowledge to talk to customers about the product with confidence," adds Jonny.
  

In particular, JT Atkinson's staff have been able to talk to customers about the advantages of using SterlingOSB in place of more traditional products - in particular softwood ply.

Customers have responded very positively to the campaign says Jonny: "The idea of swapping plywood for OSB has been planted amongst the pro-ply customers and we also have traditional OSB users."

JT Atkinson's customer base includes several timber-framers and modular house-builders for whom SterlingOSB has much to offer.

"Our customers use it for all sorts of weird and wonderful things and are curious to learn more about its versatility," says Jonny.

The proof of the pudding is of course in the eating and Jonny says that he has noticed a significant increase in SterlingOSB sales since launching the campaign. "Our branch network has grown over the past 12 months, so the figures are hard to pin down, but looking at our sales figures there has definitely been an increase.

"SterlingOSB3 18mm is our biggest-selling OSB product and we have seen a 55% increase on sales since 2015," explains Jonny.

While a proportion of these additional sales are down to information being made available to customers at the point of sale, a significant factor has been JT Atkinson's concerted effort to promote the product.
 

"Our branches have made sure that there is plenty of product in stock and our staff have definitely been more active in discussing the merits of SterlingOSB with customers who are looking to buy panel board products," says Jonny.

For further information on Norbord, please call 01786 812 921 or visitwww.norbord.co.uk.

-ends-

Issued on behalf of:

Norbord Europe Ltd                                                   
Station Road 
Cowie
Stirlingshire
FK7 7BQ 

Tel: 01786 812921 
Fax: 01786 817143
Website:www.norbord.co.uk
 
With compliments: 
 
Alison Relf 
Unit 2 Temple Place 
The Broadway 
SW19 1SE 
 
Tel : 020 8543 3866 
Email: alison@tayloralden.co.uk 
Website: www.tayloralden.co.uk