David Symons and Nick Bippus remain committed to the core values established at the Bricos Group over more than three decades in business, but they are also taking strong steps to advance into an innovative future. Symons’ parents, Brian and Diane, started the business 37 years ago and retired in 2005 handing over the daily operation and future direction to their son David and son-in-law Nick. Long-standing business relationships stretch back more than 30 years, almost to the days when the firm was first established. Bippus and Symons are determined to continue the tradition of working with companies that operate in a similar way to the Bricos Group; those with a strong moral compass who put their heart and soul into their work, keen to see their efforts grow and succeed. Their commitment to stand behind their products enables the Bricos Group to work with factories and mills around the world. “We were eager to continue with the core values and principles that the business ran on,” Symons says.

“We were also keen to introduce a new and fresh slant on products in our range and in our marketing.” Symons points to several examples that suggest that the Bricos Group has been a leader in establishing certain trends. He claims that it was the first company in Australia to introduce a 2.8-metre-wide blockout fabric around six years ago, and that it was the first to recognise a need for texture. Symons and Bippus travel extensively each year to keep up-todate with the latest developments in texture, colour and design, but they are also keenly aware that Australia is a unique market and that overseas trends may not easily translate into significant domestic sales.

“The wider width was a trend we recognised as coming, but we hadn’t seen it overseas,” Bippus says. “Bricos Group and the Australian market led the way with that trend.” Today, the company exports wide-width fabric to Southeast Asia and southern Europe. Marketing multi-tiered A multi-tiered marketing strategy is designed to ensure that information about the company’s product offering is relayed across the supply chain, including retailers, manufacturers, interior designers, specifiers and architects for commercial and residential buildings. The company has staged extensive marketing campaigns over the past five to six years, tailor-making the information to suit each group; for example, brochures for end consumers have focused on practical information rather than technical data.

“We promote the range on all levels,” Bippus says. “And it’s also important to spend time with the people who manufacture the product.” A recent initiative to engage retail, interior-designer and specifier interest was a roadshow promoting the Sunshadow collection of sunscreen fabrics for blinds from Alkenz from Korea. “They work at the coalface Keeping an eye on quality New products have been introduced and fresh marketing strategies adopted at the Bricos Group as a new generation leads the way. Dawn Adams reports.

Generation leads the way Ne w with the end consumer [who needs] to be educated about the product,” Symons says. Bricos Group recently became the brand’s Australian and New Zealand distributor, and training days were held in Queensland, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. “We work with the best mills from all continents and still continue to buy from every region in the world,” Bippus says.

In a bid to better service the market, the firm recently opened a new warehouse in Melbourne to complement existing facilities in Queensland and Auckland, New Zealand. “The response has been fantastic. People are happy we have stock on the ground,” Bippus says. “While we are Queensland-based, Victoria is our biggest market, which is why we made this commitment.”

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