Norden Heating & Plumbing Supplies, based in Surrey, has joined national buying group NBG.

The merchant became NBG's latest member on 1 January, 2017.

Norden is a family-owned and run plumbing merchant that was set up in 2007 with four members of the family at the helm, all with a long track record of running independent merchanting businesses in Surrey and south London.

As well as the main plumbing and heating business, which operates from four units in Epsom, the company also has a well-established bathroom showroom in Ewell. The company has seen rapid growth, especially during 2016, and now boasts an annual turnover in excess of £5m. As such, Norden Heating & Plumbing Supplies fits the typical profile of NBG independently owned members perfectly: financially stable, well-managed, and with a strong growth aspiration.

"With the growth we have seen in the last year, we decided that the next step was to join a buying group to allow us to compete really effectively with the nationals and put us on a more substantial footing with the major suppliers," said Chris Norden, a director of the business. "It seemed to us that NBG is the most pro-active and professional of the buying groups and we are really looking forward to reaping the benefits, especially in the form of competitive buying, to help grow our business further."

"Norden Heating & Plumbing Supplies is a very welcome addition to the NBG community," said NBG's Nick Oates. "Just like NBG, the company is focused on competitive buying, sustained growth and offering a really competitive alternative to the nationals. That makes them a perfect fit for NBG and I believe we will have a long and mutually profitable relationship for years to come."

NBG is a buying group for independent merchants with a focus on negotiating competitive buying deals. It has £850m of end-user sales and 82 partner merchants who collectively own nearly 300 outlets across the whole of the UK.