Inprova Commercial Procurement (ICP) has been launched to help regional contractors and construction firms save money across their materials spend with merchants and wholesalers such as CEF, Huws Gray, Jewson, JTC Furniture Group and Wolseley.
The new procurement group has been set up by procurement services provider Inprova Group which buys £0.4 billion worth of products every year for over 1,100 organisations, with a particular focus on building materials for the housing industry. ICP says it will leverage its existing relationships with manufacturers and merchants so SME contractors and builders can access a wide selection of items at consistently competitive prices.
The procurement group reports that it was established in response to feedback from regional contractors and builders, who said they find the process of purchasing materials to be “highly unpredictable.”
Prices, which can vary from week to week, are often based on historic relationships with past and present merchant employees, rather than a pre-determined, structured system. ICP contends that this variability means that “far too often, SME contractors have to spend valuable time negotiating rates.”
Accordingly, ICP says it will streamline the procurement process for contractors and house builders, providing pre-negotiated prices for a broad range of products via a dedicated portal. Once they are an ICP member, contractors order directly from merchants, accessing their ICP negotiated prices using their normal terms, such as cash at point of sale or credit account.
Neil Butters, Head of Procurement at Inprova Group, said: “With the current system, no-one has clarity or certainty about the prices paid for building materials. We want to simplify the process for contractors and house builders, so they can reduce their project costs and have confidence when estimating jobs. We’re also making things easier for manufacturers and merchants, so they don’t have to spend precious time on pricing.”
Chief Operating Officer Lisa Lynch added: “Inprova has 25 years’ experience of procuring building materials. We buy around 310 million products a year – so we have strong links all the way through the supply chain, from manufacturers to supplier networks and contractors themselves. We’re harnessing these links to generate value for money for builders, contractors, manufacturers and merchants.”
Atul Dattani, Director of Social Housing and Merchant Relationships at CEF, commented: “We’re really excited to be a supplier partner on the ICP framework. CEF is focused on helping local contractors and SME builders to procure the products they need, at the right price, so they can do their work effectively and cost-efficiently. Through ICP we’ll build strong relationships with an even wider range of customers.”
www.inprovacommercialprocurement.com
Inprova Group is said to be one of the UK’s largest framework providers, procuring £0.4 billion worth of goods and services for over 1,100 organisations across the social housing, local authority, health and private rented sectors and states that it “generates £30 million (of) savings for its customers every year.”
The business is the managing agent of Procurement for Housing (PfH), reportedly the UK social housing sector’s leading procurement services company. In turn, PfH is the procurement partner of Building Better, an alliance of housing associations and local authorities increasing the use of modern methods of construction (MMC).
