Since 2025, The Merchant’s Choice says it has been proving that a buying group for independent plumbers’ merchants and bathroom showrooms can run on a simple promise: no subscriptions, no hidden mechanics and a rebate you can actually track.
The self-styled “transparent buying group putting independents first,” it is the work of “two industry lifers who decided the sector deserved something more honest.”
The bathroom, plumbing and heating trade has never been short of buying groups. What it has lacked, according to founders Alan Greene and Ken Milbery, is one that treats transparency as the starting point rather than the fine print. Launched in 2025 and now operating nationwide across mainland UK, The Merchant’s Choice was built to “put more profit back into independent businesses while keeping the relationship between members and suppliers healthy for the long term.”
The proposition is described as being deliberately straightforward. Members are rewarded with a rebate on everything they sell through the group’s supply partners. The more they sell, the greater the reward. There are no annual subscription charges, no obligatory meetings to attend and no waiting for the next onboarding window, because businesses can join at any time.
“Shared longevity, not short-term wins”
What is said to set The Merchant’s Choice apart is “less a mechanic than a mindset.” The founders have watched independents come under sustained pressure from a tougher economy, competing national corporations and ecommerce and wanted to build something that helps them compete, thrive and keep serving their communities rather than simply squeezing a better price for a season.
Co-founder Alan Greene says: “We saw the demand for something authentic and transparent while putting the sector first. Our aim was to create a programme that protects the shared longevity of our members and our suppliers, so that everyone succeeds and grows together.
“Being able to put something back into an industry that has given so much to Ken and me is genuinely wholesome.”
And that emphasis on both sides of the counter is intentional. The group’s deals are structured to keep suppliers whole as well as members, on the view that a buying group only works if the businesses on either side of it are still standing in ten years.
Alongside the rebate, members gain access to a specialist technology platform that hands independents the kind of purchasing insight that larger national chains take for granted, and to do it without adding another meeting to anyone’s diary.
The Founders
Both Alan Greene and Ken Milbery have considerable experience within many facets of the sector. Alan, for instance, started his career on the tools, completing an apprenticeship in plumbing and heating before moving across to the supply side of the industry. He has spent most of his working life operating trade counters and bathroom showrooms, and was on the verge of launching his own showroom and trade counter when he concluded that his “experience would do more good” supporting his peers through a new kind of buying group.
Meanwhile, Ken also began as an apprentice, qualifying first as a gas engineer before diversifying into full heating and bathroom installations. He opened his first plumbers’ merchants in the eighties, running a supply and install business before focusing on supply only.
Having been a member of various buying groups himself during his years as an owner, Ken understands from first-hand experience “what the right group can do for a business, and what the wrong one costs.”
Open for members and suppliers
The Merchant’s Choice is now welcoming independent plumbers’ merchants and bathroom showrooms across mainland UK and is also speaking with suppliers interested in reaching a curated network of independents. Businesses can register their interest or arrange a call through the group’s website.
Find out more: www.themerchantschoice.com
