VIEW FROM THE TOP
BUILDERS MERCHANTS JOURNAL
BMJ
GETTING THE BUYING RIGHT Bob Davis, NBG’s buyer sharpens and drives the deals at NBG.
“A
s the NBG buyer, I play a key role in ensuring our deals are really competitive and that they deliver for both
our Partners and Suppliers.
I’m supported by a great team in the office that looks after all the administration, doing the hard work on the figures, collecting the rebates and ensuring that all the deals carry the correct information. Day to day, I try to ensure we keep on top of market rates and communication with suppliers. When I first joined the organisation, it was more a case that we settled on the deal for one or two years and then that was sometimes the only time we ever met with suppliers. Now, we work much more in partnership. We aim to hold quarterly review meetings and I have the time to ensure that this happens.
“With the best will in the world, the partners who negotiate the deals in the first place can’t cover every aspect. They own their businesses and of course, that is where their first priority has to lie. I am the middle man, if you like, the conduit making sure it all works. If suppliers have any problems they tend to come to me first so that I can sort it out before it gets to be a problem elsewhere.”
Clear view
The role means there is someone who has a clear overview of the whole marketplace, Davis adds. “It can be difficult sometimes for the Partners to have as clear a perspective on the whole marketplace. Understandably, they have a view that affects their own business first. So by having someone overseeing the deal who has a wider marketplace view, it prevents any blinkered thinking or perspectives.” Davis says his national merchant background - with Grafton Group - has helped inform the role because he says it has given him a very broad industry experience. An example of this, at both national plc and independent level, has been to really highlight to him that what the customer wants can’t always be found on a spreadsheet.
“As independents, what the customer wants is key to what we do - we service that customer with what they want, rather than dictate to them what our spreadsheet says will save us the most money.”
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always ring the main two or three partners that might be having issues with the changeover first and talk to them. Then you try and sort their issues out with the new suppliers so that any problems are eradicated before they become a real problem. “It’s never just about the price. Three years ago, when I first joined, price was the main focus. Now, it is more about the package. If you speak to any of our partners, they’ll say that it is about the package of the deal first and foremost. Yes, price is important. We’re a buying group after all, but it isn’t the be all and end all. It’s all about buying the right product at the right price for the right customers.”
A major strength of the independents is that they can react really quickly to feedback from their customers, he adds, and this is equally as true at buying group level. “We can look into issues straight away and make sure that the deals are right for our Partners and their customers, rather than just fixating on the fact that this is £1, rather than this one that is £1.05. “Yes, of course price is important but that doesn’t mean that you have to be led by
“ Supply deals Our aim is to
have as few supply deals as possible to cover every need of our partners. If we can use just two that cover every eventuality for all our partners then great.
price all the time. If the whole high street was led by price, then all stores would be Primark and there would be no choice. It’s the same for NBG. All the experiences I had when I was at Buildbase with the number of acquisitions we did, I learned that you can’t just go along and force new deals on people. You have to show them the benefit to their businesses. If we are looking at a new supplier to NBG, I would
“
Going forward, Davis says, he will be supporting more CMTs with their negotiations. He will be working with another NBG Partner before signing the deal off with the CMT, rather than having larger meetings, of six or seven people, with suppliers. “I work for 84 people, if you think about it. That can be an issue, but if you understand where they are coming from then you also understand that different products will suit different customers in different parts of the country. “Our aim is to have as few supply deals as possible to cover every need of our partners. If we can use just two that cover every eventuality for all our partners, then great. If we have to go up to three or four to get that full benefit to partners, then so be it.” Any bigger than that and it gets too complicated and too difficult to maintain compliance, he adds. “We have business plans with a lot of the bigger suppliers now, which work on the various ways we deliver a deal. Gone are the days when we signed a deal and said: see you in two years’ time. Now we are much more proactive and working together with suppliers to ensure these deals work the very best way they can for all parties.
“I’m talking to suppliers all the time, even those that we aren’t currently dealing with as you never know, in a year or two they might become very important to us.
“We are always upfront. If we aren’t going to deal with a supplier we tell them why and make sure that we keep the dialogue going. That way we know the model works and will keep working for everyone involved.”
January 2019
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