Merchants urged to get suppliers to sign Best Practice Guidelines for March for Independents

By Richard Siddle

Published: 03 February, 2015

Today Harpers is calling on independent wine merchants across the country to help get their suppliers fully behind the sector by signing up to Harpers' Best Practice Guidelines, set up to try and ensure relations between independents and suppliers are as effective as possible.

Action week 1 Action week 1

As part of the series of Action Weeks that Harpers is running throughout February to put the spotlight firmly on the issues that matter to independent wine merchants, Harpers hopes to bring suppliers and retailers closer together so that they can find more efficient ways of working.

The Harpers Best Practice Guidelines were established in 2011 when Harpers brought independents and suppliers together to agree a framework of trading principles by which they could work more openly together.

Since then nearly 20 suppliers and producers have signed up to the guidelines and pledged their support to independents by stating the steps they have taken to comply, and in many cases, go further than the Guidelines set out.

But more could be done and a large number of suppliers have still not signed up to the Guidelines either because they have chosen not to, or they are not aware that they can do so.

Which is why today, Harpers is urging all independent wine merchants to email all the suppliers they work with, who have yet to sign up, urging them to do so.

Merchants simply need to download the templated letter to suppliers in the bespoke Action Week 1 section of Harpers.co.uk, and if they agree with the contents cut and paste it and email it to their chosen suppliers.

Harpers also encourages independents to personalise the letter and set out their reasons why they wouldl like to see their suppliers signing up to the Guidelines.

To help Harpers track which suppliers have been contacted independents are also asked to email Harpers.editorial@wrbm.com with the list of suppliers they have emailed and, if they are willing, a copy of the personal reasons they have set out asking them to sign up.

Any interested supplier that wants to sign up simply needs to state the steps it is taking to follow the Guidelines and email those to Richard Siddle, editor of Harpers Wine & Spirit. Harpers, in turn, will then publicise all suppliers who do so, include them in our dedicated Best Practice Guidelines section of Harpers.co.uk and include details of the measures they have taken.

Together we can hopefully get independents and suppliers working more closely, effectively and profitably together.

Click here to read and email the open letter to suppliers to sign up to the Guidelines. It is also attached to this story.

Click to see the list of suppliers that have already signed up to the Best Practice Guidelines

Click here to read the Best Practice Guidelines

Harpers Best Practice Guidelines

The Harpers Best Practice Guidelines

Suppliers that want to publicly endorse the Harpers Best Practice Guidelines should commit themselves to these principles and conduct a transparent relationship with their customers in the independent sector.

That these suppliers commit to a transparent independent merchant strategy which makes clear which channels of distribution they are trading in. This should be made available on request to individual wine merchants.

Independent merchants can request information from these suppliers on an individual basis about which channel of distribution the wines and spirits they are interested in stocking are distributed in.

Sales representatives of these suppliers must be made aware of their distribution strategy covering independent wine merchants.

These suppliers should, on request from an independent wine merchant, be able to set out how this strategy is managed within their company and understood by their own sales staff.

That training and information is being provided on these suppliers' distribution management strategy to sales staff

That these suppliers should inform affected independent merchants if the distribution management strategy for a particular wine or spirit changes.