WEST SUSSEX: United Merchants, UK's largest merchant co-operative and clearing house, has been awarded a new contract – ‘Supply of Materials & Managed Services’ by Procurement for Housing (PfH). “This framework further strengthens our position as a comprehensive supply channel of building materials to social housing providers in the UK,” said marketing manager Suzanne Millward.
Effective from 1 June, the contract will remain in force for three years, with an option to extend it for a further year.
“This new contract replaces the current Unimer & PfH agreement, and enables both specialisation of merchants, and increased scope of products available within the contract for Unimer members to supply to PfH members,” Ms Millward explained.
The agreement was awarded to Unimer through an EU-compliant tender process, where the suppliers with the best value offer were awarded the contract. Under the terms and conditions, Unimer will supply:
Plumbing and heating products.
Building materials.
Electrical products.
Managed stores solutions.
Aids and adaptations.
"We believe that this new agreement will further increase business opportunities for Unimer members,” Ms Millward commented.
“It is clear to us that the national agreement terms and efficiencies in the materials supply chain we can deliver through our Unimer members are becoming increasingly more important to the social housing sector."
With over 700 PfH members who collectively manage over 3.2 million properties in the UK, PfH members spend (in excess of £1.2m a week through PfH agreements). "We have a large number of Unimer members across the UK who are now trading through the Unimer and PfH agreement, and we are convinced that the current successful business relationships and collaborative procurement processes in place, in conjunction with the opportunities the new framework agreement offers, will provide a solid foundation for other Unimer members to further build relationships with local public sector landlords,” said Ms Millward.
"We believe that this agreement helps smaller and independent merchants to be included in the distribution of building materials for local economic development and it keeps them in the frame for further developments in the sector.
