RECRUITMENT
JOINING A BUYING GROUP? During the last calendar year, NBG saw no fewer than 11 independent merchants join as Partners – a new record for the buying group. Phil Bonar, NBG’s Head of New Partner Development and Recruitment, explains why.
WHY ARE SO MANY INDEPENDENTS I
t’s probably no exaggeration to say that 2019 was the last time our industry felt any real sense of stability. Since then, we’ve experienced a global pandemic, a war in Ukraine, commodity shortages and interest rate hikes – all of which have caused a real headache to those running independent merchanting businesses.
On one hand, stable market conditions aren’t necessarily the be all and end all. We’ve seen on numerous occasions just how agile independents can be during challenging times. Shorter reporting lines, more flexible processes and faster decision-making often enable independents to outmanoeuvre their national counterparts. But ultimately, these businesses’ bottom lines are what matter most, and five years of volatile market conditions have certainly posed a challenge. That’s before we even consider the impact of the recent increase to employer National Insurance contributions, which caused a great deal of wincing among business owners when it was announced in November. Without question, these factors have created a catalyst for a growing pipeline of merchants looking to join NBG. We’re seeing a lot of interest from merchants who simply need to find ways to offset their rising operational costs and supply chain issues. Buying better and selling more are certainly two ways to combat those, which also happen to be to crucial components of our strategy as a buying group.
EXCELLENCE IN BUYING
Buying better stems not only from the increased buying power of a large group but also from the significant expertise that informs decisions. The Category Management Teams at NBG, for example, are made up of specialist buyers and Partners with expertise within a particular merchanting sector: Bricks and Blocks; Roofing and Insulation; or Plumbing, Heating and Showrooms; for example. These experts study the markets and negotiate with Suppliers to get the best deals they can on behalf of everyone in the group.
Quality has a significant part to play here. Our merchant Partners need to offer high- quality products with the kind of exceptional
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service that has customers demanding more. Our Suppliers are trusted to deliver excellent service as well, along with their best products at competitive prices – a compelling dynamic for any other independents looking to outperform their competition.
The word ‘buying’ might carry a lot of weight for those looking to join NBG, but for many of our prospective new Partners, excellent buying is seen as a given. What they’re just as interested in is the added value we can offer through our central infrastructure and supportive community.
CENTRAL INFRASTRUCTURE We saw a record 352,000 changes to Supplier pricing and product details last January alone, which gives an idea of the mammoth task it can be for an independent merchant to track market movement. As a result, we’ve invested in our own central infrastructure to allow independents to avoid overbearing levels of admin and be able to compete with the nationals. Our Hub, Product Information Management system and NBG Academy are all designed so that data-driven decision making can be a core part of their ambitions for growth.
SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY As an LLP, our model relies on a democratic approach to every decision. The appeal of that has grown over time and we’ve attracted numerous merchants from other groups because they want to be actively involved in the decisions that impact on the group as a whole. We don’t sugarcoat the fact that we ask a lot of our Partners, from attending regional meetings to playing an active role in our Category Management Teams and attending our events. This is quite simply because we want a buying group that is stronger than the sum of its parts, and that can only happen if every Partner is firmly committed to sharing, learning and listening. Why wouldn’t you, when you’ve got the expertise and experience of 94 other merchant Partners to tap into?
Over the past year, we’ve actually increased our turnover criteria for those looking to join NBG. This decision was taken purely because we feel we have a good grasp of the size a business needs to be for its senior people to become actively involved in the running of NBG and the decisions that will benefit their business and that of their peers. Against a challenging backdrop, this year looks set to be a brighter one for those merchants choosing to join NBG.
January 2025
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