CRESCO / CHARLES WALTERS / ISTEC
TEN YEARS. THREE BRANDS. THREE CONTINENTS.
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From UK Distributor to International Manufacturing Business.
FAMILY BUSINESS
CRESCO · ASSEMBLY
EU WAREHOUSE · 3PL
NEW ACCOUNTS
N. AMERICA / INDIA
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RACQUET SPORTS · 2008 — PRESENT
Next: Racquet Sports →
01
THE DISTRIBUTOR BECOMES THE MANUFACTURER.
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For 20 years, our family distributed American spreaders across Europe.
Then the relationship broke down.
We knew the market. We knew the customers.
So we built our own.
Cresco was born.
Then came Brexit.
Then Covid.
...Great start!
02
BUILDING A EUROPEAN BUSINESS.
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Covid sent shipping costs through the roof.
Our solution? Ship raw materials and assemble the spreaders ourselves.
The reality? Freezing Saturdays in the warehouse. 😑🥶
Meanwhile, Brexit had our European customers questioning our ability to deliver.
Every existing European customer bar one came with us.
Now we had to keep up.
03
THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG?
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Manufacturing is tough.
Too many sales, you run out of stock. Too few, and cash flow bites.
Demand overwhelmed assembly.
I spent three weeks in the warehouse.
150% increase in output.
Meanwhile, I managed £1m in sales and developed two major new customers.
£250k + £150k annual accounts.
04
THE MARKETING DEADLINE.
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Manufacturing moved to Pune, India, under ISTEC.
Meanwhile, we were expanding into North America.
We had a new Managing Director who needed a product packaged and ready to sell. Fast.
A new brand.
·
Positioning.
·
Website.
·
Sales materials.
And if we took too long, we'd miss the Spring season.
Charles Walters launched in ten days.
05
TEN YEARS LATER.
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6× group revenue growth.
One of the industry's largest players. Manufacturing in India. A North American business.
But ten years was enough.
I wanted a different challenge.
So I moved to Australia.
And went back to tennis.
