About Us

History

The IBA was formed in mid 1993 in the North West of England by 10 Independent Electrical Wholesalers, 7 of which are still in the Group to-day. By the end of 1999, there were 25 members, a number that has grown consistently each year since, to a number now of 72 Members with 89 branches.

Geographically there are members throughout the UK although west of Greater London down to Cornwall the Group is currently under represented.

Overall the Group turns over around £95 million pre VAT.

Group Objectives

To build a nationwide Group of Independent Electrical Wholesalers, all of whom will have equal rights on input into running the Group.
To utilise this buying power to appoint key Suppliers in the industry with competitive deals and to build close, long-term profitable relationships with these Preferred Suppliers.
To significantly increase the profitability of all Group Members by these improved supplier deals and marketing/sales support activity.
To encourage as much informal networking within the Group as possible in order to optimise the breadth and depth of experience within the membership.

Operating Policy

The Group is run by its members for its members, with all key decisions taken on a one man one vote basis. Apart from Members annual fees, which are used to fund the management and administration of the Group, 100% of all other financial benefits negotiated with Suppliers passes back to the membership.

The Group has an annually elected Executive of 3 plus a Management Committee representing up to 20% of the Group’s membership.

In terms of Supplier relationships, new members and general management of the Group, this is handled by a staff of 3 employees, the General Manager, Finance Manager and Administrator, with a head office in Chalgrove, South Oxfordshire.

The aim is to continue to run the Group primarily on a national basis with quarterly meetings held around the UK, where members are encouraged to attend by having events linked to each of these meetings. Attendance at 2 of these meetings is a stipulated requirement of all Members.

Owing to the growth in size of the Group in recent years, we do now hold informal voluntary Regional Meetings to gain more input from our members.

Suppliers to the Group

The Group has over 100 Preferred Suppliers from across the electrical market with a handful of Recognised Suppliers mainly supplying services such as insurance, telecoms, stationery etc. Annual deals are agreed with these suppliers where invoice prices, annual rebates, payment terms, service levels, carriage paid order levels and marketing support are the key benefits negotiated on for the membership.

The aim is to develop strong long term relationships and high levels of business with each, supplier and try not to spread the business too thinly.

Regular promotional activity, either set for a period or handled on a one off collated order basis, is a strong feature of the Group and our Suppliers.

Marketing and Sales Support

There are 2 Trade shows per year, where the Group’s Preferred Suppliers exhibit and promote their business to the Membership – these shows being linked to two of the Group’s quarterly meetings.