Long before seven stores, premium bathroom showrooms and national supplier partnerships, the On Tap story in KwaZulu-Natal started around a family table.

The original logo was sketched by hand. Early jackets were sewn by Scott Haslam’s mother — and if you turned them inside out, they became Sharks jackets. At the time, nobody could have imagined that the small family-built business would one day grow into one of KwaZulu-Natal’s most recognised independent plumbing and bathroom networks.

Nearly thirty years later, Scott Haslam now runs seven On Tap stores across the province and stands as one of the longest-serving members within the On Tap group — a journey built not only on business growth, but on resilience, relationships and a culture that still feels deeply personal today.

On 1 June 1996, Ontap Durban officially opened its doors.

But long before that, Scott was simply a young man learning the business from the ground up.

Paul van Wyk had entered the trade after leaving the police force in the early 1990s. Scott joined in 1994 as a driver, while Mike Pienaar followed shortly after. The three eventually found themselves working side-by-side behind the sales counter, where the conversations slowly shifted from day-to-day sales into something much bigger — the idea of building a business of their own.

One of Scott’s favourite memories from those early days was the creation of the original trading name, Bent Elbow Trust.

“We were sitting in a pub one night trying to come up with a business name,” he laughs. “I jokingly suggested Bent Elbow Trust, and somehow everyone loved it. We later told people it came from us sitting around thinking deeply like the pondering man — but honestly, it started as a joke over a few beers.”

What started as a small operation eventually grew into a seven-store KwaZulu-Natal footprint spanning Durban CBD, Durban North, Pinetown, Rossburgh, Westville, Umhlanga and Amanzimtoti — servicing everyone from plumbers and contractors to developers, architects, designers and homeowners across the province.

Yet despite the scale of the business today, many of the original values remain unchanged.

Fast service.

Strong product knowledge.

Honest advice.

Long-term relationships.

For Scott, the business was never simply about selling plumbing supplies.

“It has always been about people,” he says. “The relationships with staff, suppliers, plumbers and customers are what built this business over time. Products change, the industry changes, but relationships are what keep people coming back.”

Any business that survives for nearly thirty years does so because of its people, and Scott is the first to acknowledge that the success of the KwaZulu-Natal stores was never built alone.

“There are so many people who played a role in getting us here,” says Scott. Across the seven-store network is a core of long-standing, hard-working team members, several of whom have spent more than two decades within the business. In an industry where staff turnover can often be high, that kind of loyalty speaks volumes about the culture built within the On Tap environment over the years.

Many of the team members have grown alongside the brands, suppliers and customers that helped shape the business, developing a level of technical product knowledge and practical industry experience that cannot simply be taught overnight. For many customers, the relationship is not only with the store itself, but with the people behind the counter who understand the products, the projects and the pressures of the industry firsthand.

Over the years, the business has navigated economic pressure, changing retail landscapes, Covid-19 lockdowns, the 2021 KwaZulu-Natal unrest and the devastating floods that severely impacted the Rossburgh branch.

Each challenge tested the business differently, but Scott and his team continued rebuilding, adapting and moving forward together.

For Scott, resilience was never about making noise — it was simply about refusing to walk away.

That quiet determination has become one of the defining characteristics of both Scott and the broader On Tap KwaZulu-Natal operation.

Three of the group’s stores — Durban, Rossburgh and Pinetown — now celebrate milestone anniversaries in June, marking an important chapter not only for Scott personally, but for the wider On Tap network.

The journey has also been shaped by loss.

Following the passing of Paul van Wyk in December 2024, Scott now stands as the longest-serving member within the On Tap group — something he carries with deep respect for the people who helped build the business alongside him over the years.

Today, while the industry continues evolving toward premium retail experiences, project support and increasingly design-led bathroom spaces, Scott remains excited by where the industry is heading and the opportunities still ahead.

“The industry never stands still,” says Scott. “There’s always something changing, something improving and something new to learn. That’s what keeps it exciting after all these years.”

For someone who has spent three decades in the plumbing industry, water itself has also always carried a deeper meaning.

“Water is life,” he says simply. “It’s something people rely on every single day, and as an industry we should never lose sight of how important that responsibility really is.”

After thirty years — through partnership, growth, loss, unrest, flood and change — On Tap KwaZulu-Natal has become more than a business.

It has become a reflection of the people who helped build it.

And by the look of things, Scott Haslam is nowhere near done.