As Managing Director of National Buying Group (NBG), Nick Oates has seen the group go from strength to strength while managing to remain loyal to its core values. In the first of a two-part Q&A, Nick – during his final month in office – looks back at a decade at the helm of one of the industry’s foremost buying groups.
Q: What do you think makes NBG a successful buying group?
A: Over the years I’ve worked with many buying groups and, as you might expect, I’ve got a lot of love for NBG. It has a great heart, and the people understand that the Partner and Supplier support benefits us all. It has this cooperative approach making it a strong entity that rides through challenges without too many issues. The principles at the core of the group remain the same which is how NBG keeps hold of what makes it special.
For example, we have great teams in place and have built some really strong relationships. Something I look back on fondly is the annual NBG Conference because it’s always great fun and a fantastic way to build community in the industry.
It’s generally true that if you’ve got good people, good service and good support, you’ll go a long way. For us, we need to be competitive to negotiate good deals. However, the deal is only the beginning: once that’s done, NBG, the Partners and the Suppliers are firmly on the same side trying to maximise sales.
Improved sales benefits everyone so that’s a huge focus for us – helping our Partners improve sales, in turn benefiting our Suppliers and making NBG more competitive.
Q: What would you say has been your greatest challenge?
A: One challenge has been to understand that independent merchants go through a cycle and so continual investment in new Partners is essential. Some join and you really enjoy seeing them thrive and grow before they take the decision to move in a different direction.
The truth is, it can be hard not take that personally. What’s equally true is that new merchants are always looking to join so it’s never long before gaps are filled and the cycle continues.
It can also be difficult managing everyone’s opinions. It’s a feature of a democratic group that every voice can be heard and sometimes new Partners take a while to find their feet in that regard. When they do, they see that their input really is valuable to us. There are simply two sides to democracy: you get opportunities and a voice on one side, and on the other, you have to accept responsibilities and the fact that things won’t go your way every time.
“One challenge has been to understand that independent merchants go through a cycle and so continual investment in new Partners is essential.”
Q: How would you say NBG has navigated the digital challenges faced by the industry?
A: Merchanting is a traditional industry so change tends to come little by little. I’ve learned this with technology as merchants tend not to have people naturally drawn towards the latest digital ways of working, with a few forward-thinking exceptions.
This brings with it a degree of concern as we can see that any merchant that isn’t fully electronic is in danger of being obsolete at some point in the not-too-distant-future. That’s why we’re encouraging our Partners to get to grips with the new stuff now, because soon it won’t be an option in order to survive in a tough market.
The digitalisation of the way we do business is something we’ve taken very seriously during my time at NBG – so much so that we’ve made unparalleled investment in a dedicated team and some really advanced systems. The Hub we use to communicate business-critical information and our Product Information Management (PIM) system have really shown our Partners the power of having up-to-the-minute pricing and information at their fingertips.
“The digitalisation of the way we do business is something we’ve taken very seriously during my time at NBG – so much so that we’ve made unparalleled investment in a dedicated team and some really advanced systems.”
Q: What have been the most notable changes at NBG since you took the helm as MD?
A: I’d say that NBG has become increasingly professional. It’s far more organised and the use of technology and data has improved dramatically. Compliance with deals has seen a huge rise too. Even with this evolution, we’ve retained our core principles, strengthening our community and involving Partners in decisions that impact the group.
For more information on NBG, visit NationalBuyingGroup.com.
Click here to read Part Two of our Q&A with Nick, in which he shares his further reflections on ten years as NBG MD including the impact of private equity investment on the merchant market and how the role of buying groups continues to evolve.
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