COMPANY PROFILE Sirius Buying Group

GROUP APPEAL! 'SIRIUS' BENEFITS FOR KBB RETAILERS AND INSTALLERS

Gordon Jones, Chairman of The Sirius Buying Group talks to iKBBI The Installer this month and explains what his organisation means to you, your customers and your business …

As a major buying group in the electrical appliance retail industry, what sets you apart from the competition?

As an installer, I know you pride yourself on a quality installation service and reputable aftercare to generate positive new business and the ability to retain existing customers. We have the very same principles at The Sirius Buying Group; a major buying group where its dedicated members provide a leading collection of home appliance brands across the UK.

Currently comprising of more than 150 members, we advocate a network of over 250 retail outlets spanning the country, with a collective trade purchasing power of more than £100 million plus for you to benefit from…

I believe our ‘buying power’ and industry standing has derived from our specially negotiated terms with a comprehensive range of preferred suppliers. This means that our members benefit from improved margins, which we all know to be essential in today’s competitive market place where increasing profitability is paramount. 

"As an installer, I know you pride yourself on a quality installation service and reputable aftercare"

As an installer, to know that you’re dealing with a Sirius retail member will provide you and your customer(s) with great advantage. Offering the retailer (which ultimately means you) very competitive prices, Sirius members have the ability to offer a first-rate delivery service, installation and aftercare via its unique Care Warranty Scheme: a comprehensive and competitively priced service plan.

Having been active since 2001, how do you feel you have cornered the market?

Since first establishing the buying group back in 2001, our product reach has certainly amplified, seeing our members cater to Cooking, Laundry, Waste Disposal, Refrigeration, Sinks and Taps, Floor care and Visual technology.

With a complete outline of the electrical appliance industry, we wish to branch out and meet the needs of the UK kitchen market. This will look to ensure that we can accommodate other products within our portfolio of leading brands and rightly welcome Furniture, Surfaces and Storage solutions too...

With kitchens becoming more open to the living and dining area, appliance manufacturers have had to develop new technologies and electrical solutions to keep pace with current market trends. With that, manufacturers product portfolios now need to offer both 

integrated and freestanding appliances to ensure that our network of retail members and suppliers can effectively accommodate this new category of customer.

Do you have any areas of the business that forecast growth and developments?

Having positively gained support within the electrical appliance sector, we now want to facilitate more kitchen-led retail brands that are yet to benefit from our incomparable capacity, reach and services. Having recognised this need for development, we have instructed a long-term media partner to implement a concerted publicity drive to primarily target the kitchen retail sector.

We hope through devoted brand support we will be able to effectively increase commitment from the kitchen retail sectors, to then pass on to you the latest products, innovations, aftercare service and savings direct from the retailer.

Has there been any direct impact to your Buying Group following Brexit? a representative for many leading UK and global appliance brands, Brexit is obviously a point of discussion.

However, with little to no tangible change until Brexit officially comes into effect, we and many of our international brand providers are at the mercy of prolonged government legislation. Until the UK invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which gives the UK and EU two years to agree the terms of the split, we are unable to determine how the market will actually fare.

Of course we have seen a decline in consumer confidence, across all sectors, but I do not believe this is a direct result of Brexit but instead to the rise in import costs, where smaller retailers have to bear the brunt of excessive mark-ups.

This is a fundamental reason why professionals such as yourself, should buy from a Sirius retail member, to ensure you have the support of a highly dependable resource now, and in the future, where it will matter most.

Providing a simple, effective process for ‘the independent to compete’, is the foundation behind the group and as www.sirius-buying-group.co.uk