SOMERSET: Merchants in Highbridge have hailed Wienerberger's 'mixed load' delivery option as "good for business" by saving time, money and space.

The initiative enables merchants to place smaller orders for individual product types, thereby increasing the number of different products they can display and reducing the amount of stock they have to store.

Nick Edmonds, director of Wollens Builders' Merchants in Glastonbury, said: "Wienerberger's depot has been a great help to us. As an independent, mixed goods merchant we stock a huge range of products and really struggle to make up full loads. Now we can order what we need, without the need to overstock. We can also collect the order ourselves, utilising our delivery lorry's return journey to pick up stock when we need it. This not only saves us time and money, but also has a beneficial environmental impact in terms of reduced fuel miles. It has certainly been good for business."

Based at the Walrow Industrial Estate, the depot offers a wide range of clay facing bricks, engineered bricks and pavers, serving merchants and builders' across Somerset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall. Particularly popular products include the Kassandra multi, Old Farndale and Jasmine blue, which reflect the local rural style.

National merchants are also benefiting from the site. Bruce Stubbs, sales consultant at a local Jewson branch said: "In the past if a customer ordered 8000 bricks I would have had to order 12 000 and store 4000 in the yard. Now I can control my cashflow much more efficiently because I can order the exact amount which has been ordered from me.

"Reducing the amount of extra stock in the yard means I have more space available and have filled that with another variety of brick, providing more choice for my customers. And because the depot is on the doorstep - rather than a 70-mile round which had to be arranged far in advance - we can have an order within 48 hours and respond more quickly to our customers."

Mark Morris, sales and marketing director of Wienerberger, said: "I am pleased the Highbridge depot has been so well received by merchants in the South West region. We felt there was a lack of provision for our customers in the area and so it is satisfying to hear that so many are now benefiting from the service.