h&b Development Group member Wilf Noble has become the latest graduate to the h&b’s primary group.

Using h&b’s industry-leading buying deals and a network of support from fellow merchants, Wilf Noble has grown its turnover and proved its compliance, making the Yorkshire-based single-branch operation the ideal candidate for promotion to the main h&b group.

The h&b Development Group was conceived to help small to medium-sized independent merchant businesses to take advantage of h&b’s buying power and business support to grow turnover, profitability and professionalism. It provides smaller merchants with a pathway to membership of the main buying group and all the benefits that offers.

Wilf Noble was one of the first h&b Development Group members and the management team has been pleasantly surprised that h&b has offered them much more than the great buying deals that they joined for.

“Joining a buying group was a big step for us as an independent family-run business,” says Wilf Noble MD Catherine Noble. “But as soon as we joined we knew we had made the right decision. The feel of the group, the professional culture, has really helped us through the process.

"The whole h&b team has helped, guided and developed us through the whole process and being able to speak to fellow members who have been there, done that, has been a great advantage for us.”

While joining the h&b Development Group has meant some big changes at Wilf Noble, primarily in buying, the merchant’s management team has been impressed with some of the buying benefits that h&b membership brings.

“We are definitely buying smarter: more full loads, better deals, new suppliers,” says Noble. “All of the big brands are now keen to talk to us and as well as better delivery terms and deals we have had improved allocations of key products. We are really excited to be joining the main h&b Group and looking forward to making a strong contribution to the Group to help grow everyone’s businesses.”