The Butty & Brew Trade Tour: Four Weeks, Three Branches and a Lot of Bacon
We wanted to say a big thank you to all our trade customers for using our products and providing the highest quality service to customers up and down the country. So, we got to thinking about the best possible way to show tradies our appreciation. The answer was obvious: free brews and bacon butties.
If you've ever been to a trade morning, you'll know roughly what to expect. A cuppa, a bit of food, a chance to catch up with suppliers, and maybe the option to pick up something useful before the working day properly kicks in. They serve a purpose, and the better ones feel less like a sales exercise and more like a genuine morning out with people who know what they're talking about.
That was the starting point for the Butty & Brew Trade Tour. We wanted to take the best parts of a typical trade morning and create something that felt a tad more relaxed and a little more focused on the people coming through the door, rather than the products on the shelves. Working with our PR agency Luya and a selection of key suppliers, we took the tour to three of our branches across the last two weeks of April and into early May: Ilkeston, Scunthorpe, Chester.
How Our Butty & Brew Tour Works
We didn’t need to reinvent the wheel to make this a success. Free bacon butties (don’t worry, there were vegetarian options too!) and brews from 7:30 to 10:30 in the morning, on the basis that if someone is getting up early to come and see us before heading out to a job, the least we can do is have the kettle on and something hot waiting for them.
Alongside the food, we had some of our key suppliers set up with tables and plenty of freebies on offer, which gave the whole thing the feel of a proper trade event without that stuffy, awkward formality that sometimes makes those events feel like hard work. The idea was to create a genuine reason for our customers (or potential customers) to come in, spend some time with us, see what's new from suppliers and, if anything caught their eye, find out a bit more.
No pressure, no hard sell, just a decent morning for people who are busy enough the rest of the day.
We ran two sessions at each location across consecutive weeks, which gave us the chance to see how each branch responded and to get a sense of what was working and what could be better the second time around. As it turned out, the format did what we hoped it would (and to be fair, how could a free brew ever fail).
The tour ran across the following dates:
- Ilkeston: 22nd and 29th April
- Scunthorpe: 23rd and 30th April
- Chester: 24th April and 1st May
How It Went
The honest answer is: better than we expected, and we had fairly high expectations going in (again, what’s not to love?!).
Each location saw strong turnout across both sessions, but the second week at each branch was the one that really stood out. Attendance records for a trade morning or trade day at all three branches were broken in week two, which tells you something about how word travelled between the first and second sessions! When people came along in week one and had a good time, they told others, and those others showed up the following week.
That kind of word-of-mouth is difficult to manufacture and doesn't happen unless the event itself is genuinely worth recommending, so we're pleased that the format seemed to land with the people it was designed for. It also helped that our team was on hand to offer a friendly chat, product demos, and opportunities to win prizes (including free supplies and money off).
Our Team’s Highlights
A look back at an event like this wouldn't be complete without a mention of the moments that made each location stick in the memory.
At Scunthorpe in week one, we were joined by representatives from Scunthorpe United FC, which went down very well and gave the morning a bit of added energy. There's something about having a football club involved that loosens the atmosphere, and the Scunthorpe branch had a good crowd in for it. A nice early dose of World Cup fever!
Chester produced a different kind of highlight in week two: we sold out of bacon. That's not something we anticipated writing into the event debrief, but it happened, and honestly it's probably the clearest possible sign that more people showed up than we'd planned for. We'll be ordering more next time, lesson learned.
Why These Branches?
Ilkeston, Scunthorpe and Chester weren't chosen at random from our list of local National Plastics branches. These are areas where we wanted to increase awareness of National Plastics among local tradespeople and build on the presence our branches already have in those communities.
A trade morning is one thing, but a tour that generates some noise, brings in suppliers and gives people a real reason to come along felt like a more effective way to do that than a standard in-branch event. We wanted to create a lasting impression, leave a good mark on the community, and send people off into their day feeling good!
The fact that record attendance figures were set at each location in week two strongly suggests that approach worked, so we’ll be building on that for our next events (keep an eye out!). More importantly, the people who came through the door got something useful from the morning, which is the outcome that matters most.
A Bit of Credit Where It's Due
None of this would have worked without the suppliers who gave up their time to be part of it, the branch teams who kept the tea flowing and the food coming (until we literally ran out), and the tradespeople who took an early morning out of their schedule to come and see us. The tour was built around the idea that the trade community around our branches is worth investing in, and the response across all three locations backed that up.
We're already thinking about what the next one looks like, and if anything from this run has given us a clear steer, it's that the simpler the format, the better it tends to work. A good butty, a decent brew, the right people in the room and a relaxed morning to bring it all together. Sometimes that's all it takes.
If you want to stay up to date with what's happening at your nearest National Plastics branch, including any upcoming events and trade mornings, get in touch with the team directly or keep an eye on our blog for updates.
… And if you're in Chester and you came along in week two: we're sorry about the bacon. We'll do better next time.
