Wholesalers save £2.2m in six months with Unitas Procurement

Unitas said its members are seeing incredible savings of up to 38 per cent on business expenditure in the first half of the year through the group’s procurement service in partnership with Auditel, the costs, procurement and carbon solutions company.

The scheme leverages the scale of the buying group's 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, Unitas Procurement delivered immediate saving for wholesalers, with one member reporting 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 per cent on office furniture, 38 per cent on warehouse consumables, and a 3p per litre discount on fuel cards.

Members have also seen huge reductions of up to 25 per cent in waste through strategic purchasing and adopting services that improve recycling and waste segregation, and help change uplift patterns.

They are able to access saving in an ever-increasing range of categories including mobile phone contracts, packaging, energy procurement and management, freight and logistics, and insurance, the group added.

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.

“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,” Patara said.

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,” Connaughton said.

Unitas MD John Kinney added: “In the current challenging market wholesalers are having to invest in price and margin to remain competitive, so making these saving in other areas of their business is a very welcome contribution. It’s great to be able to help our members make these impressive reductions in overheads through our relationship with Auditel.”