As a young company, it’s not often that we get to talk to an organisation that has been in business for 129 years, but that’s exactly the case with Broady’s - an industry leader in cookers, woodstoves and fireplaces. We recently spoke to John Lintott, Broady’s General Manager, to learn more about the business and how Unleashed fits into the Broady’s story.
John Broady emigrated from Cheshire, England in 1879, and was employed by Hyauiason’s the rangemakers locksmith before setting up his own business in 1885. John specialised in coal ranges, as did his son, and his grandson Doug. And while the Broady family are not directly involved in the business these days, their legacy lives on in the range of solid fuel products available and the service Broady’s provide to their customers.
While Broady’s started out manufacturing coal ranges, new technology has seen them move into the manufacture and distribution of modern, clean-air woodburners, cookers, and home heating appliances. And while you might think theirs is a seasonal business, Broady’s have products to keep you warm all year round, including pizza ovens and ‘open’ fireplaces for both indoor and outdoor use.
Their enduring goal as a business has been to delight customers with great products and service, and more recently to make their workflow more efficient, which is where Unleashed fits into the story.
John admits their processes were quite manual when it came to taking orders and generating invoices before they signed up for Unleashed two years ago, but now it has become an integral part of the business. As he says, “it’s the first thing we turn on and the last thing we turn off each day”.
Stocking a wide range of New Zealand made products, as well as leading brands sourced from all around the world, it has been essential for Broady’s to successfully track and manage their inventory to ensure they provide the best possible service to their customers in New Zealand and throughout the pacific region. Add to this the fact that they stock spare parts for all the models they market, and have a workshop which carries out repairs, and you start to get an idea of the large inventory Broady’s have to manage.
While it may seem like a daunting task to keep track of all the moving components within their business, John says, “Unleashed really brings it all together. Whether it’s ordering product from our suppliers in New Zealand, or overseas, right through to when customers call us for the very first time. We can capture their details, put them in as a quote, then that hopefully transfers through to a sale, and an invoice, and then we can track the progress of that sale and installation right through to completion”.
Like many of our customers, Broady’s have also integrated Xero with Unleashed, and John has high praise for the integration, saying “Unleashed works in seamlessly with Xero, all the information gets transferred across, and accounts at the end of the day can collect the money from the customer - it’s all very easy”.
We’re excited to hear how Unleashed’s inventory management solution has made Broady’s business easier to manage by helping them to easily track and manage inventory, and making their workflow processes more efficient.
Watch our video below to learn how Broady’s uses Unleashed to manage their inventory, or click here for more case studies about how successful businesses are using Unleashed.
Broady’s main showroom is in Auckland, where John is more than happy to light a fire or two to demonstrate their products. They also have a number of retailers throughout New Zealand, and their product range can be viewed here.
John admits their processes were quite manual when it came to taking orders and generating invoices before they signed up for Unleashed two years ago, but now it has become an integral part of the business. As he says, “it’s the first thing we turn on and the last thing we turn off each day”.
Stocking a wide range of New Zealand made products, as well as leading brands sourced from all around the world, it has been essential for Broady’s to successfully track and manage their inventory to ensure they provide the best possible service to their customers in New Zealand and throughout the pacific region. Add to this the fact that they stock spare parts for all the models they market, and have a workshop which carries out repairs, and you start to get an idea of the large inventory Broady’s have to manage.
While it may seem like a daunting task to keep track of all the moving components within their business, John says, “Unleashed really brings it all together. Whether it’s ordering product from our suppliers in New Zealand, or overseas, right through to when customers call us for the very first time. We can capture their details, put them in as a quote, then that hopefully transfers through to a sale, and an invoice, and then we can track the progress of that sale and installation right through to completion”.
Like many of our customers, Broady’s have also integrated Xero with Unleashed, and John has high praise for the integration, saying “Unleashed works in seamlessly with Xero, all the information gets transferred across, and accounts at the end of the day can collect the money from the customer - it’s all very easy”.
We’re excited to hear how Unleashed’s inventory management solution has made Broady’s business easier to manage by helping them to easily track and manage inventory, and making their workflow processes more efficient.
Watch our video below to learn how Broady’s uses Unleashed to manage their inventory, or click here for more case studies about how successful businesses are using Unleashed.
Broady’s main showroom is in Auckland, where John is more than happy to light a fire or two to demonstrate their products. They also have a number of retailers throughout New Zealand, and their product range can be viewed here.
