2 23 When professionals and homeowners in Canada require materials for their projects, they look no further than National Concrete Accessories (NCA), the country’s largest manufacturer and most diverse distributor of concrete hardware, accessories and construction products. Written by Jessica FerlainoSince 1968, NCA has offered the broadest, most comprehensive range of medium- to high-end products and the foremost in service and exper-tise. This year, celebrating its 50th anniversary, it has a rich history to be proud of and an even brighter future to anticipate. “To have a company with this sort of longevity in this field, it’s fairly rare. A lot of construction distribution com-panies have come and gone, have been bought and sold and have been renamed, whereas NCA marches on,” explained President and CEO Mike Hardman. 34 The company’s roots date back even further, to 1958, when Acrow Canada Limited and the Richmond Screw Anchor Company Inc. came together and formed Acrow Richmond, a Toronto-based company specializing in the manufacture of quality form hardware and concrete accessories for the market. In 1985, National Concrete Accessories and Acrow Richmond merged under its current name and it became Canada’s first national concrete products distributor, supported by its manu-facturing capabilities. Today, steps are being taken to breathe new life into NCA in its maturity, as throughout the years as acquisitions were made and growth was integrated, the customer-centric focus it was known for found itself to be less of a focus for company leadership. According to Hardman, everything was going well and NCA was solidly advancing in the right direction until it acquired Northland Construction Supplies in 2015, a five branch opera-tion in Alberta. “They bought their biggest competitor in Alberta at the height of the market, so through no fault of their own, obviously the Alberta market collapsed because of the oil price and then they didn’t do a particularly good job of inte-grating the acquisition so those two things combined was like the classic sucker punch in a boxing match,” he said. CONGRATULATIONS NATIONAL CONCRETE ACCESSORIES! “We’re going in the right direction now. This is a classic turnaround situation.” 45 CONGRATULATIONS NATIONAL CONCRETE ACCESSORIES! 6 The company continued to struggle and eventually found itself headed in the wrong direction. Enter Hardman. He joined the company in August 2017, coming out of retirement from a successful career as Senior Vice President for Mergers and Acquisitions for Sika’s North American operations and other senior management positions to bring renewed growth to NCA. “They didn’t know how to pick themselves up and say, ‘how do we fix this?’ and a lot of short-term fixes were put into play that did not work – and this is not a short-term business,” noted Hardman. “This is very much a relationship business and that relationship is: sales person to customer, inside sales person to customer, even myself directly with key members of our customers is absolutely critical, and that got forgotten.” Hardman, who loves a challenge explained, “When I took this company over, it had a lot of potential but it was being taken in the wrong direction and I think we’ve got the direction; we’re going in the right direction now. This is a classic turnaround situation. The company had sort of stagnated for several years and the ownership wanted to get it back to growth, get it back to improving profitability, really give it some stimulation and they brought me in.” Hardman endeavours to position NCA as the leader in the Canadian market. “Our goal is to be THE preferred supplier of concrete accessories to the Canadian construction industry. We’re already the largest but I wouldn’t say right now we’re necessarily the preferred. I want to get us to that status,” he said. NCA’s range of product offerings include mechanical devices for formwork, such as snap ties and other mechanical accesso-ries, construction sealants, waterproofing, rigid insulation, repair materials, hand tools and other building supplies, and much more from premium brands like Acrow-Richmond, Sika, Mapei, Makita, Dow, W.R Meadows, CTM Adhesives, Marshalltown, Bosch, Bartell, and many others. As it serves the largest con-tractors, like Graham, PCL, Ledcor, and Ellis Don, as well as the homeowner working on a small project around the house, anybody who is placing, working with or repairing concrete can benefit from NCA’s one-stop shop approach. “Our goal is to be like a one-stop sort of shop for a contractor, but we obviously don’t do the big stuff; we don’t sell concrete. We don’t sell the formwork. We sell the accessories,” said Hardman. What makes NCA unique in the market is its size. It has an expansive geographic footprint that spans from the West Coast of Canadian British Columbia to Ontario, and while it “Anybody who is placing, working with or repairing concrete can benefit from NCA’s one-stop shop approach.” 8 has no locations in Quebec, the market can still be reached by its network of distributors. With 18 locations currently, the company is undergoing a transformation that will see the number of locations reduced. “We have two locations in Edmonton and we’re combining the two and moving into an overall bigger location in Edmonton and we’re doing the same in Calgary. We’re closing the two existing locations and we’re moving into an overall bigger facility in Calgary,” explained Hardman. “This year, I think we’re closing seven and opening five.”In 2017, the seven locations in Alberta were merged under one new brand, NCA Northland, a rebranding effort that is intended to unite the Northland Construction Supplies faction and NCA. Acquisitions have been a big part of the company’s history and are likely to remain a part of its growth strategy in the future. NCA also has two distribution centres, one in Edmonton and one where it is headquartered in Toronto. The various branches are fed from the distribution centres using a hub and spoke approach. This is also where its production facilities are located, a plant that Hardman referred to as impressive in terms of its capacity. Production is based in Toronto, located adjacent to NCA’s distribution centre. “We are the largest producer of mechanical construction accessories in Canada and we have significant resources,” he said. NCA is fully equipped to produce products like snap ties, light and heavy duty forming systems, bridge hangers, and specialized products like rock anchors for clients like Hydro Quebec and Hydro One in Ontario. “If you provide the right environment for someone to work, people will flourish; they will enjoy coming to work.”8 Next >