When Jim Fleming opened the doors of Kalgoorlie-based electrical wholesaler Lakes Electrical Distributors (LED) back in 1992, his mantra was a simple yet effective one: service second to none.

And, almost 35 years later, that ethos still flows through the company each and every day as the business serves a huge geographic footprint in regional Western Australia.

“When you put a motto like that out there, you’ve got to back it up,” says the business’s General Manager Stuart Fleming. “So, having knowledgeable staff with the right attitude, and having the right levels of stock, are always critically important.”

Stuart is the son of founder and Managing Director Jim, who is still involved in the business three decades on. Over that time, LED has firmly established itself as a critically important partner for the mining and electrical industry, with bases today in Kalgoorlie and Esperance.

“Dad had plenty of experience with a multinational wholesaler, and saw the need for a service-orientated, local independent electrical wholesaler. He took the leap and opened up on his own,” explains Stuart.

“He started off with three staff, and that grew very quickly as customers started coming on board.”

Electrical wholesaler covering the distance

Kalgoorlie is almost 600 kilometres inland from Perth, while Esperance is 700km from Perth and 400km from Kalgoorlie.

Being based in a regional location brings some significant challenges – including holding the right levels of stock.

“Holding good, genuine stock quantities of not only fast-moving products, but also critical spares for mine sites is essential, and our reputation for carrying the right levels of the right stock is very strong,” says Stuart.

Those stock levels in particular, combined with a dedication to work in partnership with those mining customers, has often led to the team going to great lengths to ensure downtime is kept to an absolute minimum.

“One particular occasion really does stand out,” says Stuart.

“The Goldfields mining expo used to take place in Kalgoorlie, attracting mining companies from across Australia and around the world.

“After each day, everyone would go out for dinner and kick back a bit, and well into the night we got a phone call from a mine that urgently needed a 45 kW motor.

“Jim got a taxi from the restaurant to the branch, loaded the motor up into the back of the taxi and took it out to the mine – it was probably about 11pm by the time it got there. But those little things make all the difference. It might only be a small component, but it could be holding up a large piece of machinery – and time is money, and downtime is lost money in the mining industry.”

A key quality of LED is the team’s dedication to keeping their customers happy, and providing service that genuinely is second to none.

An example in the early days was that LED was a genuine one-stop-shop, so they’d supply peripheral products, such as tea and coffee, fly spray and safety equipment for customers. And while that aspect has lessened over the years with more and more companies offering those types of services, LED’s commitment to providing whatever customers need still remains.

“We still supply some out of the box stuff,” says Stuart. “We’ll go and get bits and pieces for some customers who don’t have many services in and around where they are, like – tea, coffee, nuts and bolts. It’s not necessarily stuff we keep in stock, but stuff they need and we can get for them.

“I remember sending a carton of Cadbury’s family chocolate blocks to a site in Africa because the guys there wanted some chocolate – so we put in some goodies in one of the containers we shipped over there for the expats who were living and working on site.”

Commitment to local business in WA

That commitment to the success of the LED customer base also extends to the local community as a whole. LED regularly sponsors events and sporting teams – particularly those the staff, or their staff’s partners and kids, are involved in.

Jim and Stuart are longstanding Rotary members, too – Jim for more than 25 years and Stuart approaching a decade.

“That plays a big part in our lives, and the impact that Rotary has on our community and globally sits very well with us,” says Stuart.

The impact that local businesses have on their communities is something that deeply resonates with Stuart, too – and he sees successful local business as critically important to the success of those communities.

“If you support local businesses and local business people who support the community, then it’s that ‘what goes around, comes around’ situation,” he says.

“It’s really, really critical, especially for regional communities, that we try to keep as much of that spend as we can in the local area, because money gets reinvested in the community and we all prosper.

“If we need stationery or office equipment, for example, we’ll buy it locally. When we need servicing done on vehicles and other equipment, we go to a local business. Because if businesses like ours don’t support other local businesses, it’s really hard for them to survive.

“That then has a knock-on effect on sporting groups and community groups – and if they’re not getting sponsorship and support from local businesses, then they may not be there anymore. And the less there is for people to do in regional communities, the less chances people are going to move there.”

For LED, being part of Gemcell is a key part of that commitment to local business. 

“We believe very strongly in the Gemcell setup, and supporting the suppliers who support the Gemcell group,” Stuart says.

“The collaboration of members, and Gemcell’s ability to negotiate the deals and pricing with the suppliers, really puts us on a level playing field with some of the big movers and shakers in the industry. Their commitment to local supply chains and supporting the people who support the members is really important, and from our perspective having a network of people who are running similar businesses is crucial.

“While we might be competitors in some respects, Gemcell makes it go beyond that – we want each other to be successful, and having a network of similar businesses who you can turn to for advice or help is invaluable.”