Adapted from an article published in March 2020 (www.thelia.org.uk/news/iba-buying-group-lighting-initiative)
In a UK first for the wholesaler sector, The IBA Buying Group Ltd has recently announced that they intend to only accept applicants for their highly desired Preferred Supplier Status from Lighting Suppliers who are also Full Members of the Lighting Industry Association (LIA).
After receiving overwhelming support from The IBA Buying Group Ltd, Paul Jenner (COO of IBA) was pleased to announce to their membership this new initiative to help to remove sub-standard and poor-quality lighting products from the UK marketplace.
The IBA has also audited their existing suppliers and is working to encourage them to engage with The LIA over the coming months.
“The work the LIA has been doing relating to market compliance of lighting products as well as auditing its own Member’s products as part of the joining process has enhanced the credibility of LIA Member’s products to a point where it makes perfect sense to build IBA’s reputation on the back of all this hard work” said Paul Jenner, the IBA’s Chief Operating Officer.
Paul went on to say, “It is essential that reputable electrical wholesalers such as IBA members seek to ensure the quality of the products they sell. By ensuring that all our group lighting suppliers are Members of the LIA, it will help safeguard our customers giving confidence that we are only stocking, buying and selling quality products”.
Steve Davies, CEO of the LIA stated, “It has been a tough job to make a stand against the plethora of poor quality lighting products available for sale in the UK, and we had to be confident in the compliance of our Members lamps and luminaries if we were to take this position. Our Market Surveillance initiative has been welcomed by the industry and we are thrilled that IBA have acknowledged that by being the first Buying Group to take the step of publicly supporting our efforts and LIA Members”.
