Find YourTimeline
1963
NMBS (North Midlands Buying Society) is formed by 12 merchants from Nottingham, Leicester, Lincoln and Belper.
1964
John Tatton, NMBS’ first employee is appointed due to rapid success and growth. John quickly became indispensible and stayed with NMBS for 28 years.
1968
The first ever NMBS Exhibition is held on 25th April at the Pennine Hotel in Derby.
1971
NMBS changes its name to National Merchant Buying Society as merchant numbers grow, with more members outside of the North Midlands than within it.
1979
Quarterly rebates are introduced to increase benefits to NMBS’ Members.
1984
Buyers guides are introduced, becoming the ‘go-to’ resource for independent merchants looking for the best deals and new products.
1994
NMBS introduces EDI trading solutions for our suppliers to start sending invoices and credit notes electronically.
1997
NMBS gains Investors in People status, which we have continued to maintain to this day, throughout periods of considerable change.
2001
A year of firsts, with the first NMBS Conference, held in Edinburgh, and the launch of the first NMBS website.
2006
The NMBS Report Centre is launched, providing our members and suppliers with 24-7 access to online accounts information.
2011
NMBS relocates to Merus Court, Leicester, with more space and better transport links.
2012
NMBS re-brands, taking on a new look and a new logo. The rebrand was driven by a desire to ensure our visual brand continued to reflect the evolving nature of the business.
2013
NMBS Celebrates 50 years of strengthening independents with a commemorative luncheon at the Guildhall, London.
2014
NMBS amalgamates with Unimer, increasing its supplier portfolio to over 600 suppliers and its membership to over 1000 merchants, on top of implementing a revolutionary new back office system.
2018
94 Merchant members made the decision to join NMBS. This breaks all previous records.
2020
NMBS Launches OnePlace. The B2B Ordering and product information management (PIM) platform.
2021
NMBS turnover hits £2 billion for the first time