Building materials product manager Richard Bradford has been instrumental in developing a significant growth area for Anglia Farmers with annual turnover for his sector doubling to £6 million since 2006.

Richard, 37, joined the agricultural purchasing group in 2006 as a buying assistant for miscellaneous items but it was not long before he took the opportunity to develop a specialist building materials service for members.

Given his background it was a natural progression. Following his education at Earlham High School in Norwich, he joined builders’ merchant Jewsons where he was a key accounts manager then assistant branch manager and at the time of leaving, a branch estimator at the Norwich depot.

“This gave me experience in all areas of building supplies from bricks and blocks to kitchens and bathrooms and everything in between,” said Richard. “Using this knowledge and my contacts within the industry for the benefit of members at Anglia Farmers is really rewarding.”

However, Richard is fully aware that his sector is under more pressure than most during the economic downturn.

“We have seen a number of our suppliers closing branches, reducing workforces and in some cases shutting down. This shortage of business has left suppliers clamouring for trade and understandably our members want to ensure that we are exploiting this situation to its fullest.

“Anglia Farmers is more important to suppliers than ever before. Our impeccable payment pattern, last year's increase in turnover and more importantly our ability to 'buck the trend' in 2009 is highly attractive and this is of significant benefit to members.

“We are in direct contact with 'the decision makers' which is an advantage when negotiating on volume but is also a benefit when we need to improve existing terms. In addition to this we are dealing with an increasing number of specialist suppliers which enables us to bypass merchants and drive prices down even further.

“Some members choose to buy direct but a look at our building materials checklist, featuring a comprehensive scope of trades as well as the diverse number of suppliers we hold accounts with, plus the keen prices we secure makes us the obvious route for sourcing requirements.”

To meet increasing demand, Richard (richard.bradford@angliafarmers.co.uk) is now ably assisted by Sally Barber (sally.barber@angliafarmers.co.uk) and Andrew Cushing (andrew.cushing@angliafarmers.co.uk)  who also have significant building materials experience. You can contact Richard and his team via the main switchboard 01603 881881.