National Buying Consortium is a member-owned company and is dedicated to working transparently with members and suppliers to grow each other’s businesses with a collaborative and unified approach to trading. David Lunt, Managing Director at National Buying Consortium talks to Wholesale Manager.
How many members do you have and what is their combined turnover?
NBC now has over 65 members with a combined turnover of £800 million. NBC members service over 45000 outlets covering retail, foodservice and hospitality.
Has the membership grown over the last year?
The NBC membership continues to grow year on year – what is different is the pace in which we are getting membership enquiries and referrals from our supplier partners. We introduced an Associate Membership category last year – this allows both the group and the member the necessary time to ensure that it is worthwhile for both parties. We are currently onboarding a number of new Associate Members which will see the membership numbers grow even further.
What benefits do you offer members?
There are 5 key benefits of being a member of the group;
1. Access to major brands – your business can get the brands it needs
2. Great terms & net pricing – your business can be competitive
3. Access to NDN – your business can buy in realistic quantities
4. A free NBC Toolkit – you can market your business to your customers
5. A shareholder – you are investing in our future together
What makes your group unique?
NBC is not just another buying group. When you combine the strengths of the members and the wholly owned route to market solution – NDN – this creates a unique proposition for both our members and our supplier partners. As suppliers reconsider how they approach the channels we serve, this puts the group in a great place to offer a solution that benefits everyone. As a buying group we consider ourselves to be the alternative buying group – as the market continues to change, we think that our route to market solution could become an essential solution for many suppliers.
Are you considering own label products?
We do not consider an own label range as an opportunity – our members are wide and varied in their needs and our focus is getting access to major brands; these are the products that make a real difference with our members.
Do you support your supplier partners activities?
This has been a real focus in the last 2 years – delivering brands’ activities to support business plans. We have a variety of techniques to ensure all of our members can be part of the brand activation plans. In addition, the recently launched NBC Toolkit supports our members in marketing their own businesses to their customers – and our suppliers’ brands are a key focus of how they do this.
Do you provide advice and guidance for wholesalers about their core range and NPD?
NBC, working together with our supplier partners, supports the provision of business-critical data to our members to ensure they are fully up to speed with all market and category developments. Our supplier partners are best placed to provide this – our job is to make sure it is received in the most appropriate way for our members.
Do you run events for members?
The main event each year is the NBC Trade Show – recently held at the Whittlebury Hotel Conference Centre – which has grown every year and this year was fully booked for suppliers. In addition, we have an AGM for our shareholders. We are also considering a conference this year – but we must ensure that it is a suitable event for everyone concerned.
What news do you have to share with us?
No news is good news! We continue to do what we do well – working collaboratively with our members and supplier partners. This year we will be investing in a central CRM facility to support the commercial processes between the group, our members and our supplier partners.
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