Bradfords, Lords and JT Atkinson are teaming up to sharpen buying power without creating another traditional buying group.
Three independent builders' merchant groups have announced a new collaborative procurement alliance designed to support buying across a number of product sectors.
Bradfords Building Supplies, Lords and JT Atkinson have all previously been members of traditional buying groups, with Bradfords and Lords formerly part of h&b and JT Atkinson previously aligned with FORTIS. However, the trio are stressing that the new partnership is not a buying group, but a collaborative alliance focused on selected opportunities.
Bradfords will also continue to procure plumbing and heating products through PHG, the plumbing and heating buying group of which it remains a member.
David Young, Chief Executive of Bradfords, said the initiative had been shaped by the sustained pressures facing the sector. With the Construction Products Association forecasting little market growth, and merchants continuing to absorb higher employment costs, energy bills, business rates and broader inflation, he said businesses had to keep exploring more effective ways of working.
Young added that the idea emerged through conversations between the leaders of the three companies, who found they were facing many of the same challenges. Those discussions, he said, highlighted the potential to work together in specific areas while maintaining each company's independence.
Young said supplier confidence would be supported by a transparent approach, with the Alliance seeking open and constructive conversations built around fairness and mutual value. He said the model needed to work for suppliers as well as the member businesses.
Jamie Atkinson, Managing Director of JT Atkinson, said the three businesses shared similar ambitions and values, with all of them focused on growth and development. He said the Alliance had been created to capture the strengths of independent merchants, particularly their ability to make decisions quickly and work together on areas of mutual benefit. Keith Wright, Commercial Director at JT Atkinson, will take on the role of Alliance Procurement Director.
The partners have also chosen not to build a costly central operation. Wright said the commercial expertise already sits within Bradfords, JT Atkinson and Lords, and that the existing teams would deliver the strategy. The aim, he added, was to encourage collaboration without adding bureaucracy.
Procurement teams across the three businesses are now assessing where a joint approach could create value. Wright said the focus would be on categories where collaboration makes commercial sense for all parties, rather than forcing a common approach across every area.
Lords CEO Shanker Patel said the companies had been working together to develop a different type of model, with no intention of channelling all purchasing through the Alliance. Instead, the focus would be on areas where there is clear value for all sides. He said the Alliance had been designed to be pro-competitive, open, fair and efficient, at a time when rising costs across the industry mean businesses must look for smarter ways to buy and sell.
