Unitas wholesalers saved up to 38% on business expenditure in H1 as a result of the group’s procurement service in partnership with Auditel.
The costs, procurement and carbon solutions company’s scheme leverages the scale of Unitas’ 148 members to negotiate preferential terms with suppliers of non-resale products and services, ranging from open banking services to office furniture.
Launched last year, one member reported that it was saving over £20,000 a month after Auditel conducted a thorough review of its purchasing. The success has continued since the start of the year, with the cost reduction across members who embrace the service now totalling more than £2.2m since January.
Among the savings reported by members are 30% on office furniture, 38% on warehouse consumables, and a 3p per litre discount on fuel cards. Members have also seen reductions of up to 25% in waste through strategic purchasing and adopting services that improve recycling and waste segregation and help change uplift patterns.
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Vipin Patara of SOS Wholesale said the company had saved over £20,000 in packaging costs, and £5,000 on fuel. It is working with a payment solutions provider through Unitas Procurement, and also uses the service to source a total of 11 product and service categories, including stationery, energy and logistics.
Patara said: “Unitas Procurement helps us to get absolutely brilliant deals on the products and services we use within the business – not just lowering prices on consumables but optimising our use of them to reduce the amount we buy.”
Sean Connaughton of Auditel, who co-ordinates Unitas Procurement, says the service extends beyond simply using the group’s size to drive price reductions from suppliers. “We are seeing the most enhanced savings where wholesalers are doing things differently. They are being more strategic and less transactional. In many cases it’s the specification of a product or service, helping them find the perfect solution for their business, that gives them the biggest benefit, rather than simply the lowest cost.”
2024 Advantage Report
Elsewhere, Unitas recently celebrated having topped the 2024 Advantage Report as the number one retail wholesaler following feedback from supplier partners.
The Report, which maps and benchmarks business-to-business relationships through feedback from business partners, reveals Unitas as the suppliers’ favourite wholesaler for Overall Performance, Partnership and Execution.
“This is an incredible achievement,” said Cheryl Hope, trading director, Unitas Wholesale. “We pride ourselves on our performance, how we work in partnership and how we support our members and supplier partners to achieve the best possible results, so to have this recognised is wonderful.
“The results show that not only are we best in class for today, with our scores for partnership and execution topping the charts, but we are also in fantastic shape for tomorrow.”
Chairman departure
In other Unitas news, chairman Mark Aylwin is to step down from the role at the group’s AGM in November after an extension to his term.
Having been elected to the position in March 2021, Mark agreed to remain as Chairman beyond his three-year term to oversee Unitas’ strategic development, with a particular focus on supply chain optimisation.
Kinney said: “Mark’s expertise and advice through what was perhaps the most challenging few years ever for the wholesale channel have been instrumental in ensuring that Unitas as a group has emerged in great shape, embedding a member-centric culture and delivering a significant increase in member’s earnings, which helped our members outperform the market last year.
