MERCHANT FOCUS: NU INDEPENDENT WHOLESALERS
As the product ranges expanded, it also helped create opportunities in new categories. Support from the NMBS team opened up conversations with trusted suppliers that may otherwise have been difficult to start. The credibility of being a member also helped the business secure in-person meetings to discuss terms and develop relationships, which were hard to arrange before the membership was in place.
Cox says: “Without the NMBS affiliate membership, we would still have grown, but nowhere near as quickly. NMBS has taken us to a commercial position at least two years ahead of where we would have been on our own. It opened doors with companies we either couldn’t get in front of or would have taken much longer to build a relationship and trust with.”
Support that opened doors After just over a year as an affiliate member, the business had achieved the growth needed to progress to full NMBS membership. Dean Hayward, head of sales and marketing at NMBS, says: “James and the team at NU Independent Wholesalers are a great example of what can happen when an ambitious merchant gets the right support at the right time. Moving from affiliate member
to full member in just a year is a fantastic achievement, and it shows how valuable that stepping-stone of affiliate membership can be for growing businesses.”
For NU Independent Wholesalers, full membership is not just a marker of its growth; it’s also a platform for what comes next.
With a growing showroom, a broader product range and continued investment in customer service, the business is staying true to the original vision it was founded on, supplying local people with the products and service they need, while building a stronger business for the future. BMJ
NMBS AIMS TO STRENGTHEN THE INDEPENDENT MERCHANTS SECTOR WITH AFFILIATE MEMBERSHIP SCHEME
A
s part of its bid to strengthen the independent builders’ merchant industry and its access to innovative products, NMBS has a new affiliate membership scheme. This category of membership has been created to support businesses that don’t currently meet NMBS’s membership criteria but but may well develop to do so over the next three years.
By allowing start-ups and smaller merchant businesses to become NMBS members, NMBS hopes to encourage merchant and supplier relationships to develop earlier in the merchant’s business journey. NMBS will provide affiliate members with access to more than 400 suppliers and support them as they learn more about new product types, innovations and trends. The affiliate membership will also help smaller independent businesses improve
their digital efficiency and financial performance and ability to compete with larger merchants.
Dean Hayward, head of sales & marketing of NMBS, says: “As we see consolidation in the market, we believe start-ups and entrepreneurial new entrants must be helped to grow and prosper to fill their places. Smaller independents are who we were set up to support, and they provide a vital resource into local markets.
“Through this new affiliate membership offering, NMBS will be able to support this development and continue the future success of independent builders’ merchants.”
Affiliate members will have many of the same rebate benefits as full members. NMBS members earned an average of 3.84% on turnover transacted via NMBS in 2023, so this could have significant impact for smaller businesses going forward.
June 2026
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net
They will also benefit from having one invoice with NMBS, rather than hundreds across all their suppliers. This helps save time on the financial administration of running a business and streamlines processes earlier in their business journey.
Businesses can be an affiliate member for a maximum of three years. This period should provide merchants with the opportunity to grow their business, so they can meet the criteria for the full NMBS membership package and become a share-holding member of NMBS. Affiliate members will have many of the same financial rebate benefits as full members.
The affiliate scheme is aimed at the following merchants: • Start-up businesses • Not yet meet the £750,000 minimum company turnover criteria for a full membership
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