The first graduates of H&B’s Development Group

JTD Building Supplies has become the first graduate from H&B’s innovative Development Group into the primary H&B Guying Group. A combination of turnover growth, gold standard levels of compliance, and real improvements in profitability thanks to unrivalled buying deals, have made Yorkshire-based JTD a worthy candidate for elevation to the main H&B group.

The H&B Development Group is a new opportunity for small to medium-sized independent merchant businesses to take advantage of H&B’s industry-beating buying deals and business support to grow turnover, profitability and professionalism. It provides smaller merchants a proven pathway to membership of the main buying group and all the benefits that offers.

JTD was the first member of the new H&B Development Group and MD Tony Sharkey is a keen exponent of its benefits to a developing merchant business. “Joining the group has enabled us to grow and expand profitably; so vital to the business as we opened a brand-new branch and yard in Holmfirth,” he says. “When I started this business there was only one buying group I wanted to be part of: H&B. The challenge for us was to achieve the turnover necessary to access the full buying group. Joining the H&B Development Group has enabled us to achieve that quickly and I would urge any small merchant out there to consider joining.” Tony Sharkey and the rest of the JTD management team will now be acting as mentors to other merchanting businesses following in their footsteps.

The H&B Development group is a completely new concept for the merchanting industry, offering carefully selected smaller merchants access to offers to a vast range of negotiated deals and a strategically mapped route to growth and success. It has a number of structures and strategies in place to help members to achieve the turnover required to take them to the next level. The H&B management team aims to steer up to twenty-five merchants a year through the system, filling their place with new recruits as they graduate. Suitably qualified independent merchants can apply to join at www.tbgdevelopmentgroup.com

Established in 2011 and based in Brockholes, Holmfirth, JTD Building Supplies is a local independent builders merchants providing building materials and supplies to construction firms, trade and retail customers across Yorkshire. Using H&B’s industry-leading buying deals, JTD provides its customers with the best quality products at highly competitive prices, from an impressive new yard and trade counter, or via its fleet of delivery vehicles.

H&B is a truly national merchant buying group with sales approaching £1bn a year though its growing membership of independent builders merchants. Currently over seventy-five H&B merchant members with more than 215 branches are trading in partnership with around 280 suppliers. H&B offers its merchant members a real opportunity to improve profitability and grow market share by being part of the most progressive buying group in the UK.