Rapid Group releases five-year plan at first conference in three years.

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.

In his address at Sydney’s Sofitel Darling Harbour, Lees said the year had a number of highlights, including record preferred supplier purchases, the addition of four new members in Australia, new preferred supplier arrangements with Pacvac, Polivac, and Makita, and an expanded its private label range.

“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 group now boasts 58 members in Australia and 35 preferred suppliers.

While representatives from New Zealand weren’t able to attend the conference, Lees congratulated RapidClean New Zealand for recording more than 20 per cent growth in the last financial year, following 40 per cent growth the year prior.

He made special mention of 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.

While the latest results are extremely encouraging, the year didn’t come without its challenges, Lees said, with members faced with price rises, stock level uncertainty and – for one particular member – devastating floods.

“The support that our members and suppliers provided allowed RapidClean Byron Coast to recover. I will never forget the generosity that you all showed,” Lees said.

“It proved to me that in spite of the challenges of recent years, the Rapid family is strong and we look after each other.”

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: