What a strange year it's been - a very challenging one, certainly, for us all. Here is the Replenishh review of 2020:

There's no business like Show-business
Way back in January we were looking forward to a year of exhibitions, trade shows and events. Little did we know that the first one, ELEX 2020 at Alexandra Palace, would be the only one. But it was a great couple of days meeting lots of new customers, old friends and, as Head of Replenishh Jim Rugg found, new ones too - like Billy Byrne from DIY SOS, (pictured below).

On-site install, Part 1
Work began in March on our project to install an EV charging hub at our offices and distribution centre in Colchester. It was all going well until, well, you know the rest. Lockdown meant that we had to curtail the site works until it was safe to resume.

EV sales surge in lockdown
As we reported during the Spring lockdown, EVs represented 32% of the total new car registrations in the UK in April, and sales of pure battery operated vehicles (BEVs) fell by only 9.7% year on year, compared to at least 95% for every other fuel type. In May, there was a 21.5% year on year increase in registrations for BEVs. We saw this reflected in an increased rate of enquiries about EV chargers during this period.

Three new supplier partnerships
We were delighted to be able to add three new manufacturers to our EV charging range: Wallbox, Delta and Easee. Together with our existing supply partners EO and Schneider Electric, the Replenishh product range gives installers and consumers a wide choice of chargers to fit their requirements and the charging profiles of their sites.

EV Start-Up of the Year
In the autumn we were shortlisted for three awards at the EVIEs, the Electric Vehicle Innovation and Excellence Awards. We could not have been more surprised and thrilled to win one of the most hotly contested categories, the EV Start-Up of the Year. It is hard to underestimate what winning this award means to us at Replenishh, having only been established in September 2019 and with just three full-time members of staff, Jim, Damien and Michael.

On-site install, Part 2
After suspending work for more than seven months we were finally able to resume our charging installation (pictured, right) at our offices in October. There will be capacity for 12 parking bays, served by a combination of 7kW and 22kW charging stations from Schneider Electric, EO, Wallbox and Easee. Some will be reserved for employees, but there will be four for public use. Unfortunately the November lockdown delayed work again, but as we go to press the finishing touches are being applied and the units should be operational from January.

Training programme goes online
We had high hopes at the beginning of the year to run a busy programme of product training for installers. The pandemic put paid to on-site events but working with our supply partners we successfully transferred training courses online. In particular our Wallbox Academy courses have proved very popular, with the next one confirmed for January 13th. To book your place please click here.

Sales of the century
Despite the fact that the pandemic has made face to face business impossible, by October Replenishh managed to exceed its annual sales target - a figure budgeted before anyone had even heard of Covid-19. This is a fabulous achievement - possibly the most encouraging and positive aspect of our year. It bodes well for 2021, when hopefully a more normal way of doing business can resume.

We have lots more exciting plans for next year, including another new supply partner to be announced very early in January. We can't wait!