BMJ


BUILDERS MERCHANTS JOURNAL


BMJ and NBG: working together


GOOD BRANDS MEAN good business, but good brands don’t just happen. They need to be built, nurtured and protected. The theme of this year’s NBG Conference was Building Our Brands. Our brands, because banding isn’t just about products or manufacturers. Merchants, too, have their brands to promote and protect.


What working with NBG and suppliers on this publication has shown me is that the partnerships between the independent merchants and their suppliers are about building better brands, which leads to building better businesses.


Communication is a key part of building better brands so this supplement looks at the


measures that NBG has put in place to ensure its systems and communications between suppliers and Partners are cutting-edge. It also puts some Partners in the spotlight, looking at some newer entries t the market and some who have stood the test of time. On the grounds that new products are the lifeblood of the supply chain, the New Product Showcase gives suppliers the opportunity to highlight the fruits of their R&D departments’ labours, so we have given these due prominence, too. The coming together of the principals of like-minded businesses to improve buying and inform and improve their businesses and that of others is what keeps groups like this going. Fiona Russell-Horne BMJ Editor-in-Chief


DESPITE SOME OFTEN challenging circumstances, the independent sector is thriving as it always seems to do in peri- ods of change. By continuing to work closely with


NBG and and our Suppliers, our Part- ners can continue to build better brands for each other and better businesses together. NBG is a partnership between our


merchant Partners but in order for it to prder to its maximum beneft, we need the relationship with our Suppliers to be a Partnership as well where we both actively support each other’s brands.


David Szymanski NBG Chairman


THIS YEAR OUR Con- ference theme was Building our Brands, because we at NBG believe that better supplier brands help build better busi- ness bands for our Partners. NBG has


no own label products and we’re not planning to have any. Why would we want a conflict with the brands of our Suppliers? Producing great products at a competitive cost is the job of our Suppliers; stocking and selling them is our merchant Partners’. NBG is fully focused on supporting and selling our Supplier brands and we want them to be equally focused on supporting our local brands. Nick Oates


NBG managing director 17


Published by BUILDERS MERCHANTS JOURNAL, on behalf of NBG, the National Buying Group.


Datateam Business Media, London Road, Maidstone, Kent, ME16 8LY Tel: 01622 687031 Fax 01622 757646 www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net


EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief: Fiona Russell-Horne 01622 699101,


frussell-horne@datateam.co.uk Senior Reporter: Rachel Tucker 01622 699186, rtucker@datateam.co.uk Art Editor: Steve Stanton Production Controller: Kirsty Hood khood@datateam.co.uk


ADVERTISING


Advertisement Manager: George Gash 01622 699148, mobile 07798 612092 ggash@datateam.co.uk North & Midlands Sales: David Harman 01663 743329 david.harman@talktalk.net Publisher: Paul Ryder 01622 699105, pryder@datateam.co.uk


© Datateam Business Media Ltd 2017. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photo-copying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without the express prior written consent of the publisher. The title Builders Merchants Journal is registered at Stationers’ Hall. Suppliers have contributed towards production costs of some photographs in this issue.


BMJ January 2017 Building our Brands 24


The Supplier of the Year Awards


NBG’s Partners voted for the top companies in each of the group’s commodity areas as well as for the overall Account Manager of the Year.


07 10 Hub Developments.


Quality of data was paramount to NBG and their IT partner NMBS in the latest NBG Hub developments.


7 Supplier Summit


NBG listened to its suppliers and acted on their suggestions. MD Nick Oates presented NBG’s first Supplier Summit.


Welcome


CONTENTS


10 14 Member Focus. A look at some of NBG’s


merchant Partners, one new entrant, others with over 100 years of history.


14 17


New Product Showcase. A round-up of new products launched during NBG’s Conference.


24 26


News. There’s a lot happening in the


independent merchant sector. 3

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