IBC INTERVIEW
PARTNERSHIPS IN PRACTICE
Fiona Russell Horne sat down with IBC Ltd’s Vick Patel and Ian Murphy to find out some more about the alliance with NBG.
FRH: Vick, how did we get to this stage? Vick Patel: I’ve been involved in this industry since I was about 11 years old, helping my dad in his hardware shop. We went on to establish another builders’ merchant business in 1986, when I was 16. I spent 10 years in builders merchanting before taking a career break to work in the entertainment and hospitality sector and then returned to the builders’ merchant world in 2004.
FRH: What did you go on to do when you returned? VP: We launched a business called Capital Drywall, supplying drywall materials to builders’ merchants. That helped us build strong relationships across the merchant community and, over time, we realised there was a gap in the market for supporting smaller, independent merchants – those who didn’t want or weren’t able to engage fully with a traditional buying group but still needed the benefits of group purchasing. That insight led us to launch IBC Ltd in 2009. And here we are 16 years later entering this exciting new partnership with NBG.
FRH: So, what does this partnership mean to IBC? VP: Around 15 months ago, we carried out a survey across our membership to understand their priorities. We asked them to identify the two or three things they most wanted from IBC. One of the strongest messages was the need for improved pricing and more competitive deals than we were currently able to secure on their behalf. We believe this partnership is exactly the right fit for our members and will deliver the enhanced value they’ve been asking for.
FRH: From your perspective, Ian, what are the next steps from an IBC point of view? Ian Murphy: Engaging with our Suppliers is going to be key. So, we have already had some meetings with the NBG Category
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Management Team (CMT) Chairs, and agreed some transition plans. Over the next six to eight months, we will transition every Supplier and our members onto NBG deals. Over the next few months, we’ll sit down with the CMTs and go through every deal and then go through a transition plan for each one. As part of those transition plans, there will be conversations with the Suppliers about what our pricing policies are with our members.
So, all Suppliers will be fully aware of how we will price to our members. We are dedicated to getting commitment from our members to buy into the deals so we’ll be launching a commitment programme as part of that. If they buy into the NBG deals, our members will get commitment payments on the back of that, which is probably a change from where IBC has been in the past. We understand the importance of the NBG partnership, and how we can drive value for ourselves as a Partner now of NBG.
FRH: How will it work in the short-term? IM: Paul Read and I will join the CMTs and work very closely with them. We will look at bringing the feedback and thoughts from our members into those CMTs so they understand where we are coming from. NBG has a lot of Partners, and they have a lot of market knowledge. Our members also have a lot of market knowledge. So, we’ll hopefully be bringing that into the deals and adding value ourselves. And, of course, we’ll be working closely with Suppliers as well.
FRH: IBC is a different model to NBG in terms of how it operates and how it supports members. As a commitment-driven organisation, rather compliance-driven, how are you going to work with NBG Suppliers to be able to promote them with your members? IM: Two ways. Paul Pamment heads up our business development team here, and he will
work with the teams and with our members. He is there to grow their businesses and grow them profitably. As part of this deal, they will be able to do that. They will get commitment from our members to buy into the supply deals and then work locally with all the Supplier reps to make sure they and our BDM team are aligned together with our members to drive commitment and profitability on both sides. It’s a really exciting time for us.
FRH: Obviously you think the benefits for this partnership work both ways. What do you think IBC will be able to bring to NBG? VP: Over the past 12 months, we’ve worked really hard and engaged with the team at NBG to make this a reality. It’s worth emphasising that IBC is the new NBG Partner we aren’t bringing 220 new Partners in. IBC is the umbrella Partner and we will be promoting the deals – and only the NBG deals – to our members.
From NBG’s point of view, this alliance means it can offer its Suppliers more volume, in particular on the heavyside. That’s a major benefit we can bring to NBG.
We’re really pleased we’ve got this deal signed, and we are looking forward to continuing to develop all our businesses together.
January 2026
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