The members have a collective buying power of nearly £1 billion

The fastest-growing independent merchant buying group, h&b, has reached the impressive milestone of 100+ merchant members, all fully privately-owned and family-run businesses with a collective buying power of nearly £1 billion.

h&b’s membership has been growing steadily through new member recruitment, businesses graduating from the organisation’s development group, and members acquiring other independent merchants to grow their own businesses.

h&b offers its merchant members a real opportunity to improve profitability and increase turnover by being part of the most progressive buying group in the UK.

In the 22 years since its formation, h&b has continuously grown its member base, increasing its capacity to negotiate the very best buying deals for its members from the industry’s leading suppliers.

Every one of h&b’s members has been thoroughly vetted and assessed before joining the group to ensure that they fulfil h&b’s strict quality criteria. Only truly independent merchants, without outside finance and with a proven financial track record and a commitment to growth, service, quality and innovation make the grade.

h&b partners are typically dynamic local businesses with a strong commitment to growth, service, quality and innovation.

“We are proud and delighted to have reached this impressive milestone,” said h&b’s Jamie Wyatt.

“It goes to show just how progressive h&b is with the strongest commitment and member engagement in the industry. We now have a national network of over 100 quality, independent merchant members across the UK, working together to grow their business and profitability – a force to be reckoned with in UK merchanting.”

One hundred and six h&b merchant members with more than 277 branches are now trading in partnership with around 280 suppliers.