Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
Miller Homes is inviting a panel of Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) merchants to bid for a share of its multi-million pound national and local material supply contracts for the forthcoming year.
The UK housebuilder has been working with the BMF to identify a regional merchant network with the desire and capacity to supply the national housebuilder. While the BMF facilitated the initial meetings, the merchants had to be pre-qualified against Miller Homes’ supplier code of conduct to gain a place on the panel.
Miller Homes will provide panel members with details of procurement reviews for existing national products that will take place over the next 12 months, and also with details of new areas of spend where they are seeking to introduce some form of national agreement. BMF panel members will be invited to bid for all centrally tendered agreements with merchant involvement; regional businesses will also invite bids for local material supply.
Garry McDonald, Miller Homes’ Procurement & Sustainability director, said: “The initiative follows on from discussions John Newcomb and I first had at last year’s Industry Conference and the BMF has played a pivotal role in getting people round the table to progress the idea. Now we have a panel in place, we are keen to develop relationships. Decisions will not be made solely on price but tenders will need to demonstrate a benefit. This is a real opportunity for BMF panel members to supply our business, however the onus will be on nominated merchants to be innovative in their approach as it is all about adding value, and simply getting close to an existing price point won’t give us an incentive to change.”
John Newcomb, BMF managing director, said: “The process has taken a little longer than anticipated when we first discussed it last year, but Miller Homes is providing a unique opportunity for BMF merchants. I’m delighted that a number of them have stepped up to the challenge and with the panel in place until the end of 2015 they have been afforded an excellent chance to demonstrate the added value they can offer a major housebuilder.”
