Do you take card payments?
Save money through our local business tender
Lower fees via our group tender
Better service from suppliers
Keep more money in your pocket
Completely transparent (& minimal) costs
Lets finally get some leverage!
We recently cut one local business's card processing fees from £18k to £6k, saving them £12k every year. This saving came from hidden broker commission and basically a supplier happy to keep on charging a high rate to a long-term, loyal customer.
We looked at the alternatives and found a broken market where brokers are incentivised to offer the deal that’s better for them, not the end customer (you).
After sorting out this customers account, we started talking to other businesses. We found businesses paying a wide range of rates, undisclosed broker commissions for every transaction and fees that they didn’t know they were paying, hidden in the small print. Suppliers who relied on business owners being too busy to stop and question their monthly bills.
Then, in terms of service, we found billing errors that were almost impossible to resolve, nightmare call centres, failed support levels, slow settlement times. All of these were generating more stress for business owners while the suppliers simply shrugged and kept taking their fees.
Now we are now building a group tender model for card payments & energy contracts as our first tenders. We are inviting top rate businesses to work together by joining our group tender.
We don’t want to just cut your costs however.
We are setting up our group tenders to include improved service levels and options for different length contracts - so you can make an informed choice on which supplier is best for your business.
Then, we’re also going to look at long term service and ensuring bill accuracy. Our ongoing managed service has been designed to give you peace of mind for the long term.
We’re rolling out more group tenders in 2027, all covering common overheads. At last, giving you real buying power in the market.
→ Lets get secure better rates and even better service. The more businesses who join, the better the rates we secure.
Our Fees
We keep this simple.
Registering your interest and joining our information call are both free. There is no commitment at that stage.
If you decide to join the tender, you pay a £250 refundable deposit (per site & per service) to confirm your place.
If you decide not to join us once we get the options back from suppliers we will refund your deposit in full.
If you do decide to join us, your deposit is deducted from our annual fees of £1000 (plus £750 each additional site), which is payable each year you remain in the group contract.
Still got over 6 months to run in your current contract?
Register now at no cost. Your future volume adds weight to the tender and we will contact you ahead of your renewal date to bring you into our next quarterly tender.
No idea about your contracts? Join the call and find out what we’re doing. We can find our your current contract status and spend if you register and then pass us your paperwork (a recent bill and contract if you have it) to review.
How it works
Step 1: Register your interest & join a free information call
Book one of our short information calls where we will walk you through the tender process and timetable, answer any questions and then you can decide if joining the tender is right for your business.
Step 2: Confirm your place
If you want to join the tender, you pay a £250 refundable deposit (per site, per service) to secure your place.
Still in contract? Register now at no cost and we will contact you ahead of your renewal date.
Step 3: We run the tender
We gather quotes from suppliers on your behalf. We share the pricing and options we receive. You can compare all the offers, looking at length of contact, service level and pricing.
Step 4 : You save money
If you decide to join your deposit is deducted from your first year fee of £1000 (plus £750 per additional site). If you decide you don’t want to join you get your full deposit back.
Step 5: Ongoing supplier management & escalation
We offer an escalation route for you if you need it. If you have an issue and the supplier has not resolved it after 14 days, in line with our Complaints Process, you can escalate the issue for us to address with the supplier.
We want our suppliers to be responsive to any issues you might have day-to-day but we’re hear as back up if you need us.
We also check in every 3 months across all our customers to catch any repeat niggly issues which would be addressed with our suppliers.
Bonus value!
Sign up now and we’ll also give you FREE access to our Glasgow vetted supplier directory, worth £300/year.
Our directory is a new service aimed at giving small businesses a source of trusted, expert suppliers. Every business who signs up to one of our tenders will receive one complementary sign-in per business.
You can find out all about our vetted supplier directory on this page.
Next Steps
How would you like to find out more:
Join an information call and we’ll tell you all about our process, what you need to provide and our fees
Fill out our registration form and we’ll get in touch to tell you more about our process and fees
Have a chat with Shona and find out more about the tender events
Hi, I’m Shona Motherwell
I set up The Independent Buying Group to help small and medium-sized companies find the suppliers they need to support their business's growth and success - i.e., suppliers who deliver on their promises, on time, and at a fair price.
I’ve worked in procurement for 25+ years and have seen the benefits of having the right supplier, who can do what you need. I’ve also seen it all go wrong!
A few months ago I was chatting with our local garage owner. He said he was having loads of problems with his card payment provider, and they wanted him to sign up to a new four year contract. His current contract meant he was paying £18,000 a year in transaction fees and he wanted to look for some other options. Too busy to deal with it he asked if I could help.
I spoke to other suppliers and they all offered me a lifetime commission on the contract of between 10% and 30%.
The supplier who offered the worst rates for the garage owner was the one who would give me the best commission. Then one supplier said that if my commission didn’t work out enough for me, they could always increase the garage owner’s bill and give me more commission.
This is when I realised the whole industry was broken.
A broker could tell their customer “great news, I’ve saved you £3k” - while collecting a large annual commission in the background. Every year. Just as the broker who had sold him that machine 15 years ago and was never seen again.
I want to do something different. I want to get the best possible deal for our businesses, putting you first - for a change.
Without much negotiation, I managed to save the garage owner 65% (£12k) - with his current provider!
They had been charging him these fees for 15 years, and wanted to lock him in for another 4!
So, I went back to the suppliers and asked what they’d offer if I brought them 50, 100, 200, or more businesses.
It was all great news:
Lower rates
Better service, for example, a dedicated account manager - no more call centres.
That’s what our group tenders are about - lets get you better rates and better service!
Frequently Asked Questions
What are we going to do?
We’re running two group tender events to reduce card payment & energy costs.
When you join, you share information on your current contract & fees.
We pull all this together for all businesses and then ask suppliers to give us a price for the volume as a group.
You would not be committing to change anything until we see the different options and pricing from suppliers.
What is the cost to take part?
You can register and join our information call without a charge. If you then decide to join the tender you pay a deposit of £250 per site, per service (we’re running card payments and energy at the same time).
Once we share the rates offered by suppliers plus their service levels you can decide to join, or not. If you do, we charge an annual fee of £1000 for your first site and £750 for each additional site. Your deposit will be deducted from your Year 1 fees.
We will never take a commission from suppliers on any of our tenders.
Why charge a deposit?
I want to ensure that if you sign up (and I do some work on looking at your current spend and contract) that you stay engaged in the tender process, which could take a couple of months. We’re taking a small deposit to cover this work HOWEVER if we don’t find you a deal that you want to take, we’ll refund your deposit once you’ve had time to review the offers from suppliers.
What is the plan?
If you’re interested in finding out more you can join one of our information calls.
If you decide to join we’ll ask for information on your current charges.
We’ll close registration for the tender at the end of November & rates will be provided by suppliers by mid December.
Following Christmas we’ll finalise rates with suppliers if you want to join & agree the transition plan.
I’m interested but I’ve just signed a new contract.
Don’t worry, everyone’s contracts will have different end dates, and could run across the next 4 years, depending on how long you’ve signed up for.
Suppliers are used to looking at a range of contract end dates. Adding your business to the tender will give everyone more buying power so please do join in. If you’re current end date is more than 6 months away you can sign up at this stage without a fee. Your spend will help bulk up the overall value of the group tender. We need as many businesses to sign up as possible.