Alistair Houghton meets CHRIS HUGHES,managing director of Regal Wholesale, in Wallasey

AS THE company name might suggests, Chris Hughes is determined to become Merseyside’s new toilet roll king.

Hughes runs family firm Regal Wholesale, the Wallasey business that specialises in selling discount paper products.

Regal sells to national chains such as Wilkinsons, as well as to a network of independent stores in the North, and even exports toilet rolls to Malta and Italy.

Today, sales total £15m, and Hughes says the company is still growing despite the recession. And if it keeps growing then perhaps Hughes could even rival the success of Alan Murphy, Merseyside’s first “bog roll king” who made a fortune from his AM Paper business.

Regal has achieved its success with a commendably modest ambition – Hughes does not want the company to be “a one-stop shop”.

Instead, it focuses on providing the best possible deals on toilet paper and kitchen rolls.

“Historically, wholesalers stock just about everything that a store or discounter or grocer could want,” said Hughes, 38. “They became one-stop shops.

“We took a decision that we didn’t want to be that one-stop shop. We didn’t want to be anyone’s first port of call. We accepted we were going to be their second call.

“We decided to focus on a smaller range of products, mainly paper products, discount brands or brands that are discounted.

“We do a lot of lines where, for example, the packaging is out of date, or where the price mark has changed. It’s the value end of the retail market.

“The recession has definitely worked in our favour. It’s meant people have gone rooting for deals on the high street. We provide those deals to retailers.”

Regal was founded by Hughes’s father, Billy, who is still actively involved in the business, while his younger brother, Nick, is sales director.

As we spoke, Billy sat in the corner of the office, tapping at his laptop or speaking on his phone.

But he chipped into our conversation just once – to say the name Regal was “plucked out of the air” in the company’s early days.

“The company was founded in 1984 in Liverpool,” said Hughes.

“My father and his uncle used to go to a factory in Flint and collect ‘seconds’ toilet rolls, either bagged or loose.

“They would fill up their van and come back to sell them all in Liverpool or Wirral.

“From there, they started selling kitchen rolls as well. That’s where it all started.

“The independent trade was quite vibrant then. There were lots of local stores, and we also started selling to market traders.”

Hughes joined the family business in 1990, after doing his A-levels and spending a summer as a soccer coach in the USA.

“I was always inclined towards working in the big wide world selling goods,” he said.

Today, Hughes happily reminisces about his time filling up wagons with goods from the warehouse and heading out to Liverpool to sell to local stores.

“That was quite a steep learning curve at 18,” he said.

“Places like Walton Vale had maybe 10 or 15 stores. We would sell them a lot of toilet rolls.

“That convenience store trade was a massive business – a lot more than it is today. Those stores have virtually all gone.”

After learning the ropes on the road, Hughes moved indoors, becoming a director at 21.

“I started to get more involved in management when I was about 21,” he said, “mainly on the sales side.

“Then I made a gradual progression through my 20s, taking the reins, really.

“I went from sales to buying – covered a bit of everything. At one point, I was even a warehouse operative. I learned about everything.”

Some 12 years ago, as sales kept rising, it moved to its current 25,000 sq ft home in Wallasey to give it more space to expand.

“It’s just been a natural process of sales growth to get us where we are today,” said Hughes.

“We’re now a regional and national distributor and wholesaler, as opposed to three or four of us running around in vans. It’s a lot more sophisticated.”

Hughes became managing director four years ago after stints as buying director, sales director, and sales and marketing director.

Hughes says he still enjoys working with his father and with his sales director brother, Nick.

“Sometimes we do get along,” he said, “and sometimes we don’t. But within a minute we’ve moved on. There’s no time for grudges.

“We can all say what we think.”

Half of Regal’s revenues are generated from selling paper products, including toilet rolls, kitchen rolls and tissues. As well as paper, it sells a range of other discounted toiletries and household goods.

Regal sells various well-known brands but also has its own brand, Designer, which is sold in chains including Wilkinsons and CoolTrader.

“Designer was created for pound shops,” said Hughes. “Pound shops have driven our market for a long time.

“People think pound shops are a new thing, but we were doing pound shops 20 years ago.

“We had market stalls we used to operate ourselves, where we would sell five toilet rolls for a pound.

“We didn’t invent the pound shop, but we were there at the start.”

As well as paper, Regal sells a range of other discounted toiletries and household goods.

Hughes says a third of Regal’s clients are to other wholesalers, while a third are to independent stores.

A quarter are big retailers, while it also sells toiletries to a range of professional or industrial clients.

Three years ago, Regal updated its website to make it easier for customers to order online. That change had an unexpected side effect for Regal.

“In an instant, we had customers from all over the world,” said Hughes. “We now sell to Malta, Ireland, Italy and Cyprus.

“Exports have gone from virtually nothing in 2007 to about £3m last year. It’s changed everything for us.

“And most of that is word of mouth – a lot of our business over the years has come from people simply finding us. Our online sales growth has been quite considerable.”

The export drive has also given Hughes the inspiration to learn a new language – Italian phrases cover the whiteboard in his office.

Regal plans to grow its online sales both at home and abroad.

It also plans to grow its business distributing goods for other manufacturers.

Regal is also in talks about moving to a new home elsewhere in Wirral, as Hughes says it has outgrown its current home.

He said: “Part of what we do, to be able to sell cheaply, is buy when opportunities arise

“Someone might ring us and say we have X amount of our brand – can you distribute it cheaply to the market? It could be toilet rolls or anything else. We need to be able to buy that stock quickly and then distribute it.”

Hughes says Regal will soon drop the word “wholesale” from its name to reflect its growing distribution business.

And he is confident Regal will be able to retain its position in the market thanks to its focus on paper products.

“Toilet rolls are so bulky that nobody else in their right mind would want to get involved,” he smiled.

“If you set up a business now, you wouldn’t do what we’re doing. It’s selling bulky items – it’s a lot of work for a low return. That means it’s difficult for people to enter the market.”

Outside the office, Hughes, who has three children, still enjoys playing five-a-side football. He also coaches his seven-year-old son Dylan’s football team, AC Hoylake.

“It’s really become a massive hobby for me,” he smiled, “Coaching a bug, and I’ve caught it.

“They’ve even got me doing their website.”