Devolution drives Davis & Shirtliff expansion strategy

Davis & Shirtliff, the country’s leading supplier of water and energy related equipment, has undertaken its biggest network expansion in over 60 years, opening a new branch every 2 months for the last year in Kiambu, Kakamega, Voi, Garissa, Naivasha and Machakos in a bid to meet the rising demand for its equipment in the 47 rapidly developing counties.

“The share of business generated from outside Nairobi has grown immensely over the recent past, now accounting for 50 per cent of our total sales in Kenya. This has been a major driver of our expansion strategy, because as demand grows in the counties, so does the need to deliver after-sales services to our customers,” said Edward Davis, the company’s business development manager.

In order that service quality in the new branches matches that of existing branches, the equipment supplier is recruiting between 5 and 10 new employees per month to ensure there is adequate capacity to meet and exceed customers’ expectations.

Davis & Shirtliff is also focused on building local capacity and expertise in the form of service providers who are trained by the company and then become free agents in the market, able to offer timely and cost effective support for the equipment in the market.

Plans are underway to further increase Davis & Shirtliff’s presence in the counties as well as upgrade and enlarge the company’s existing network of 40 branches.

“We aim to differentiate ourselves through the support we can offer our customers. As opposed to merely selling equipment and moving on, we look at our role more as an ongoing relationship with customers whereby we offer a badly needed service, a solution to the problem being experienced. We realize that in order to succeed we need to add value- making product available simple isn’t enough, that product needs to be supported- and at the right price”.

The expansions and upgrades have also been undertaken in Davis and Shirtliff’s regional markets to better serve its customers. In Uganda, the water and solar equipment supplier has opened up an outlet in Nakesero as well as upgrading its existing branches. The firm’s operations in Tanzania and Rwanda have also undergone upgrades.

Davis & Shirtliff Limited is a Kenyan multinational, operating through a network of Kenyan branches and regional subsidiaries in Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Rwanda, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Somalia, Burundi and DRC. Founded in Kenya in 1946, it is the leading supplier of water-related and alternative energy equipment in East Africa.