Speaking at the Rapid Group’s first annual conference in three years, general manager Bruce Lees said the 2021/22 financial year was its most successful yet.
Lees congratulated RapidClean New Zealand for recording more than 20 per cent growth in the last year, following 40 per cent growth the year prior.
And while the current uncertainty regarding travel meant representatives from New Zealand didn’t attend the event, Lees emphasised that New Zealand is “very much” a part of The Rapid Group’s future, with a separate one-day event being held immediately after the CleanNZ Expo tradeshow in Auckland this October.
In his address at Sydney’s Sofitel Darling Harbour, Lees said the 2021/22 financial year had a number of highlights, including record preferred supplier purchases, record member rebate returns, and an expanded private label range.
The group now boasts 13 members in New Zealand and 21 preferred suppliers.
Lees praised the new ‘Green’ private label range of ECNZ Certified products, which utilise post-consumer recycled plastic from milk or water bottles, and said he’d like to replicate the scheme in Australia in the near future.
“We [also] retained our Quality Assured status and commenced a sustainability program … We launched a fully integrated, national ERP platform. We ran the business efficiently to generate a surplus for the twelfth consecutive year, and we redistributed record rebates to our members,” Lees said.
The 28th annual conference also saw the release of The Rapid Group’s ‘The New Plan’ – a strategy for optimal performance for 2022-27.
It includes six ‘Pillars’ of success and strategies for achieving them, as well as targets for the 2027 financial year.
The Six Strategic Pillars relate to:
- Member benefits
- Preferred supplier partnerships
- Marketing
- Key account customers
- Financial performance
- Organisational capability
The Rapid Group’s 2023 annual conference will be held in Fiji.
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