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LPG Provida New Brand from Meter Provida

LPG Provida Ltd is a new brand name from Meter Provida. LP Gas editor Faye Spiers interviewed Richard Smith, LPG Provida’s lpg business development manager, and asked him what the new brand name signifies for the company and the lp gas industry.

Faye: LPG Provida is a new name for the industry. Why the change?
Richard: You’re right, LPG Provida is a new name. Since I joined Meter Provida in 2007, lpg sales have increased substantially and, despite the general economic slow down, we believe we can continue to profitably grow the business. All our lpg business will now be under the LPG Provida banner and we will soon be launching a marketing programme that will substantially raise the LPG Provida profile with lpg gas suppliers, installers and site owners.

Faye: When you say ‘LPG business’, what products and services do you mean?
Richard: LPG Provida’s mission is to supply all the products you would need to build an lpg distribution network to get the lp gas from the tank to the appliance. Our products include preassembled first and second stage distribution modules, polyethylene pipe and fittings, second and third stage meter modules and all the associated ancillaries.
In the caravan and home park sectors, there is undoubtedly a trend away from cylinders to buried lp gas distribution networks. LPG Provida is working with a select list of designers and installers to offer park owners a turnkey specify, design, supply and install service for new and replacement networks.

Faye: Does LPG Provida have the credibility and financial muscle to grow a significant market share?
Yes. LPG Provida and Meter Provida both belong to the Fusion Group of Companies. Fusion Group started business in 1971. A privately owned Chesterfield-based multinational, Fusion Group manufactures and distributes products for gas, water and electricity infrastructure projects across the world.
Turnover in 2007/08 was £70 million, and the company recently won the Sunday Times/Bank of Scotland Entrepreneurial Challenge. Fusion Group sees lpg as a niche market with significant growth potential.

Faye: When does the marketing campaign launch?
Richard: I have to admit I’m really excited about the marketing programme. For me, marketing is mainly about communicating your message and making it as easy as possible for people to buy from you.
LPG Provida has built up a database of almost 4,000 names, covering lpg gas suppliers, installers, site owners and other influential parties. Over the next few weeks, we will be sending out a new catalogue to all our contacts. The catalogue will show the products we supply, their technical specifications and how they link together to form a distribution network, and will also be available electronically.
From late February 2009, customers will be able to order products online from our new website, www.lpgprovida.com. I’m not aware of any other company in our sector that offers the same facility.
For me, the web can never replace face to face communications for building strong and mutually productive business relationships, but it does provide another fulfilment mechanism, and one that can be accessed 24/7.

Faye: Isn’t LPG Provida just another distributor, though?
Richard: There’s no doubt that traditional distributors that simply break bulk and sell standard products are struggling to maintain their place in the supply chain. LPG Provida breaks the mould in many ways.
Firstly we design, assemble, test and certify our distribution and meter modules. They arrive onsite ready to be ‘plugged in’. Construction sites are not the places to build critical system components.
Secondly, we add value by innovating. We’ve designed a green caravan meter box with a hinged door. It’s simple and it’s straightforward, but site owners told us they were fed up of losing standard meter doors when high winds ripped them off their lugs. We’ve also designed a manifold system for multi-metering distribution networks in multi-occupancy dwellings, for example.
Finally, you shouldn’t underestimate the value to an installer or end-user of being able to order all the parts they need to build their network from one lpg equipment supplier. The savings in terms of time, administration and delivery alone can be significant.

Contact LPG Provida on 01246 269807 www.lpgprovida.com

Richard Smith studied engineering at Sheffield Hallam University. In 1993, he joined Calor Gas Engineering as network sales manager and has worked in lpg ever since. Prior to becoming lpg business development manager at LPG Provida in 2007, Richard was lpg sales manager at Elster Jeavons.
Married with two children, Richard is a speed junkie, owning both an 851cc Ducati road bike – rather worryingly called Daisy – and a turbocharged Mazda Mx5. Richard’s other passion is guitars.

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