Makro partners up to form joint buying group

ECCLES-based wholesaler Makro has joined forces with Palmer & Harvey to form PalMak, a new buying group.

PalMak will consist of a team of category specialists drawn from both companies to negotiate the best terms for their respective customers.

Makro and Sussex-based wholesaler Palmer & Harvey said they have a complementary focus and are an “excellent” fit, from both a cultural and business perspective.

The partnership, which follows guidance from the Office of Fair Trading, will allow the companies to negotiate better terms of trade across a broad portfolio of products, they said.

Allard Sjollema, Makro’s commercial director, said: “We are delighted to be working with a partner, whose values are very much aligned with our own, to establish this buying group in the UK.

“This is a model we have successfully implemented across Europe with a number of different partners and we have seen the positive benefits that can be reaped from such co-operations.

“At the same time we are able to forge stronger supplier relationships and going forward we expect the new venture to create opportunities for them as the buying collaboration builds on its foundations.”