NBC networking event highlights further growth opportunities

A golf day and networking event held by National Buying Consortium (NBC) at The Whittlebury Park Hotel near Silverstone enabled members and suppliers to understand the opportunities that exist for developing their businesses.

“In our fourth year it was great to reflect on how the attendance has grown, and we really appreciate the support from our supplier partners and our member owners to be able to take the time out from the day job to be part of the event,” said NBC’s managing director David Lunt.

“It was fantastic to see everyone in the same room with a real sense of energy. We were able to introduce the full team we now have, including Elenie Abbott and Caroline Barr, our newer members of the management team, as well as some of the newer members to the group: The Atrium, Northern Retail Group, Marion Trading and Candy Hero.

“Our suppliers were able to showcase their brands and their activities, and we had a great opportunity to detail our free web-2-print service for members brochures. All in all a great day!”

In the evening NBC held a dinner to recognise a select group of suppliers that had gone that extra mile, and Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I won a supplier award.

NBC chairman David Longfellow commented: “The supplier award is dedicated to those that ensure we get access to brands, with simple processes that make it easy to do business, with great people at the heart of it all, and most importantly generating results – we encourage all of our suppliers to respond in a similar way [to Suntory].”

NBC now has over 55 members and services more than 120 third-party customers, and since it started, it has repaid £7 million in member terms and over £100 million in terms and income through the group. In 2022 NBC’s company income grew by 53%.