OUTLETThe Official Reece Customer Update

ISSUE#143 December 2013 / January 2014

We welcome your feedback so please send any comments by e-mail to outlet@reece.com.au or by fax to (03) 9274 0131.

First things first; on behalf of the entire Reece team I’d like to wish all of our customers a very happy and safe holiday season. 2012 was a huge year for the industry and 2013 certainly hasn’t been any different. We’re working harder than ever to support your business by evolving ours.

Listening is key for us, and we’re continuing our commitment to customised service through daily and yearly customer feedback and responding to these valuable inputs by improving what we offer. It’s the time of year for reflection so let’s have a look at how we’ve been working for you in 2013.

Making Business EasierAt Reece, we’re working tirelessly to help make doing business with us as easy as possible. A big part of this includes continually improving our online solutions, which we’re happy to say have been receiving a lot of positive feedback. Those improvements include enhancements to My Account’s capabilities with the introduction of QuickPay, My Account Mobile, Quote to Order and an improved product search, which now includes images.

Visitors to the site can now also play with the new 3D Bathroom Planner tool that allows the user to select from our wide range of products and a vast array of room configurations. This makes it a great tool for you to use with your clients or even suggest they check it out themselves to help them see their vision.

These are not the only ways we’ve improved our service. We’re also continuing to deliver very high in stock service levels via our newly automated stock management program. We’re continuing in our support of the wider industry via the continuation of the Don’t risk it, use a licensed plumber™ campaign and the often entertaining (but also very serious) DIY Disasters competition which continues to unearth some truly astounding attempts at home plumbing.

Building on innovation2013 has also seen the continued development of a number of new and innovative product lines to compliment our tried and tested stable. Just some of these superstar products include:

• Thermann–therangecontinuestogrow with the introduction of continuous flow and electric units

• Conex-newfittingsizes(65,80&100mm) will be launched in February 2014 for even greater options.

• Base–we’veexpandedourBasebrandof bathroom products, ensuring you can get the right products, at the right price, with quality you can trust.

• Roca–we’vealsoexpandedtheRocabrand giving access to more products from the world’s leading sanitaryware brand

• Laufen–givingyoupremiumbasins,baths and toilet units for your customers

• Hideawayactiveurinal–thisgeniusurinal system utilises sensor technology to create a urinal system that is at the forefront of hygiene and efficiency

• Weathermatic–providingyouaccesstosome of the most innovative products in the irrigation market, such as Smartlink

That sums up another busy year for us and we’d like to thank you for your continued support and confidence in the Reece brand. Here’s to even bigger and better things to come in 2014. Take care over the break, enjoy some time out with your loved ones and we look forward to seeing you in the new year.

Peter Wilson CEO

RelaxIt’s been a big, busy year, so take the time to recharge and enjoy yourself before it all starts again.

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The ultimate tree changeWe’ve gone all warm and fuzzy in this issue of The Crack. Plumber Heath Jones got the surprise of a lifetime when working on a job at a St Helens Park building site, southwest of Sydney, where he discovered a koala and her new born joey had made themselves quite at home within the building framework.

Progress on the new home construction was slowed down to the bare minimum as the work site waited for a wildlife organisation to collect the animals.

Heath, a roof plumber, was able to work around the furry pair to get his work done, but many others were forced to abandon the site for the day. “I was able to do my job, but the bricklayers didn’t turn up for the day,” Heath said. “It’s the first time I’ve ever been stopped by a koala. It was just crawling around in the roof - not something that you see every day!”

Koala sightings in the residential St Helens Park and Airds areas are becoming more frequent, with a population of 200 koalas living in nearby bushland.

So, if you start noticing your trees missing a few leaves there’s a fair chance you may have got some new furry neighbours.

The Crack

Surf’s upWhile many Europeans were battening down the hatches and heading indoors until the storm known as Saint Jude had passed in late October, a group of surfers in Portugal made their way out into the ocean to catch what may be the biggest waves ever ridden.

Father-of-two Andrew Cotton is a part-time professional surfer, part-time plumber and lifeguard from Devon, England, who took on the monster waves at Praia do Norte, near the sleepy fishing village of Nazare.

Andrew, 34, was towed into the waves by his US surfing partner Garrett McNamara. The pair work together in big surf by towing one another into the swells using a jetski. This is because waves of this size move so quickly it is impossible to paddle into the wave using just arm power.

The record will be officially announced in May next year, at the Billabong XXL awards.

“They were absolutely giant waves, I don’t know how you would even begin to measure them. It was really exciting, a big day,” Andrew said.

This potentially record-breaking achievement is also something of a payback for Andrew. He had towed surfing partner Garrett out on a jetski to ride the wave that set the same record two years ago. “I got him the Guinness world record at the same place, and now he towed me into this one. I’ve been here in Portugal for a

month now and we were lucky to be here, in the right spot,” Andrew said.

Andrew has been surfing since he was nine and runs through safety procedures with his team before going out to sea. “We have a safety crew, everyone has radios. It’s not justlikenippingdowntoyourlocalbeach– there’s years of training and practice. It’s calculated risk.”

When the big storms such as Saint Jude begin to brew, he thinks of nothing else than finding the best surf. “Britain isn’t famous for its legendary surf. England has a big surfing community, but you have to travel for the big waves. It’s a niche I’ve found myself in,” said Andrew

But Andrew’s parents were quick to remind him he had more mundane duties to return to at home. They sent him a message after his morning’s surfing: “Darling, Just read journal of your monster wave this morning. Thrilled to bits and very proud. Well done. Keep safe as we have a new washing machine that needs plumbing in! Loads of Love, Mum & Dad.”

Hot Water Systemswww.thermann.com.auEvacuated Tube Solar | Continuous Flow | Electric Storage

See how you’ve helped improve My Account

Visit www.reece.com.au/myaccount today and check out all the great features like the new image based product search.

A big part of improving My Account is your feedback and we’ve not only heard it - we’ve listened.

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DIVE INTO REECEWE’VE GOT EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO BUILD AND MAINTAIN A POOL

FREE WATER

TESTING

AVAILABLE

> Pumps & Filters> Cleaning Systems> Chemicals & Water Care

> Heating Systems> Pipe & Fittings> And much more

For your nearest Reece Irrigation Branch visit www.reece.com.au/storefinder

Christmas Trading HoursFor those who won’t be enjoying some time off during the festive season, we will be open for those still hard at work, except for a couple of important days.

EXTENDED CLOSURESIn addition to the closures advised above, the following branches will also be closed between 27th December and 1st January, reopening on the 2nd January.

MONTH DATE OPEN/CLOSED

December 2013 Tuesday24th–CHRISTMASEVE All branches close at 12:00pm

Wednesday25th–CHRISTMASDAY All branches are closed

Thursday26th–BOXINGDAY All branches are closed

Friday 27th Open normal hours

Saturday 28th Open normal hours

Sunday 29th All branches are closed

Monday 30th Open normal hours

Tuesday31st–NEWYEAR’SEVE All branches close at 12:00pm

January 2014 Wednesday1st–NEWYEAR’SDAY All branches are closed

Thursday 2nd Open normal hours

All Civil Branches Except:•CivilDocklands•CivilDoveton•CivilEnoggera

All HVAC-R Branches Except:•HVAC-RArtarmon•HVAC-RClayton•SunshineIC•HVAC-RDocklands•HVAC-RSouthBrisbane•HVAC-RAdelaide•HVAC-RCannington

Bathroom Life Branches:•SurryHills - also closed 24th Dec

Plumbing Branches: •YarraJunction•LakesEntrance•Leongatha•Moama

Present wrapping is only one of the things Elves are good for.

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Outlet is a publication by Reece Pty Ltd (ACN 004 097 090) Copyright These materials are copyright. No part of them may be reproduced, adapted, translated or transmitted without the prior permission of the copyright owner, Reece Pty Ltd, except under any permitted circumstances set out in the Copyright Act 1968. Liability Reece makes no warranties with respect to any of the materials contained in this publication and Reece does not assume any responsibility or liability for any loss or damage which may arise from the use of, or reliance on, any information contained in this publication.

Outlet is printed on Monza Recycled which contains 55% recycled fibre (25% post consumer and 30% pre consumer) and 45% elemental chlorine free pulp. All virgin pulp is derived from well managed forests and it is manufactured by an ISO 14001 certified mill.

Main Price Changes For the full list of price changes or if you have any queries, please see your Reece Branch Manager or visit www.reece.com.au/outlet for further updates.

Supplier Products % Increase Date Effective

Fabfit Large DWV & Stormwater fittings (Rubber fittings only) Various% 1 December 2013

Galvin Engineering Commercial and maintenance products 3% 1 December 2013

Icon Plastics Roof products and sheeting 3% 1 December 2013

Iplex Pipelines Australia Country Region Branches Only 0-5% 1 December 2013

Nelson Australia Sprinklers, Turf and Nozzles 10% 1 December 2013

Rifco Bathroom vanities Various% 1 December 2013

RX Plastics Industrial range only 5% 1 December 2013

Centravac Volta Centravac 0-5% 1 January 2014

Fletcher Insulation Insulation 4% 1 January 2014

Promat Australia Fire Collars Various% 1 January 2014

Rinnai Australia Spare Parts 10% 1 January 2014

Robert Bosch Hot Water 3.5% 1 January 2014

In The Pipeline Products for smarter plumbingPlumbing is changing, and there’s a lot more to it than pipes, trenches and taps. In The Pipeline keeps you up-to-date on a wide range of products.

This outdoor unit has been developed to be easy to install and deliver consistent hot water.

Thermann 135L Gas Storage Hot water Unit

New Branches

PlumbingWest Leederville (Open in Jan)12 Macewan Street West Leaderville, WA 6007Phone: (08) 6380 4000Fax: (08) 9380 6765Email: westleederville.plumbing.wa @reece.com.au

CivilQueanbeyan (Open Now)3 Gregg Place Crestwood, NSW 2620 Phone: (02) 6128 2400Fax: (02) 6299 0420Email: queanbeyan.civil.nsw

@reece.com.au

EXPANDING THE NETWORKFeatures

• Australianmadeanddesigned

• 4stargasefficiency

• easyinstallation

WORKWEAR WITH A DIFFERENCE $49 INC GST

RIPSTOP SHORTS*

To see the full range visit www.reece.com.au/MAKShorts Available in Blue, Black and Khaki

*This promotion will run from 1 December 2013 until 31 January 2014.