Wholesaler wins big distributor's awards

Awan Marketing, based in Hockley, has been crowned 'Wholesaler of the Year ' by Republic Technologies UK, during the distributor 's annual awards.

Republic Technologies UK owns and operates smoking accessory brands such as Swan and Zig-Zag.

Awan Marketing is the first independent firm with a single company depot to win the coveted award, which is usually won by multinational wholesalers.

Nasir Awan, vice-president of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, runs the business with his two sons Adam and Salman.

He said that he was “honoured and delighted ” to have been awarded the accolade, and paid tribute to his sons ' diligence over the past year.

He said: “The last year has been unlike any time of our 40 year business, not just for us but for every business around the world, being an SME, we adapted very quickly,

“I have to pay tribute to my sons, who were very quickly realised that to keep the business running, drastic measures had to be implemented.

“We are one the very few companies that did not furlough any of our staff, and due to the size of our rateable value, we were not eligible for any grants from the authorities.

“As a financially secure company, Adam and Salman immediately invested in stock, so that we were able to supply to our customer base, comprising mainly independent trade, rationing and limits had to be out in place to ensure that all customers were able to be supplied regularly and without any inflated rates.

“This insured a good customer flow as well as loyalty by the customers.

“Our customer base also grew during this time as we were known to have availability of stock, we worked with manufacturers and suppliers, accommodated all their terms of delivery and payments, this ensured that we had a constant supply.

“Through our office in China, we managed to secure masks, gloves as well as sanitiser which was supplied to the multinationals. With the added sales of the PPE, our sales grew last year by 50 per cent. This helped secure that award.

“We have been very fortunate and all credit goes to Adam and Salman for their initiatives and taking risks at a very testing time. ”

Pictured: Nasir (centre) with his sons Adam and Salman