‘Cost cutting through co-operation’.

The Co-Operative Buying Company (CBC Ltd.) is an organisation which allows small and medium sized Care Homes access to purchasing discounts normally offered only to large corporate providers.

CBC Ltd was formed in Yorkshire in 1994, by the original Chairman Konrad Czajka, to enable Yorkshire-based Care-Home proprietors to form a co-operative in order to boost their mutual purchasing power. Each member of CBC became a shareholder, the organisation being based on a Not-for-Profit (NFP) ethos. This system continues today; whilst members of CBC are committed to assisting each other in securing the best discounts from suppliers, they are free to compete unhindered in the marketplace. They achieve this by negotiating as a whole; all negotiations are dealt with centrally through the CBC, who mutually share purchasing information back to their members. In turn, those members recommend others with whom they have business dealings to join the CBC.

As a true co-operative, CBC receives a percentage of its income from annual subscriptions made by its members. Much of CBC’s funding is based on receiving percentage-of-turnover fees from suppliers. These fees do not affect the competitive prices which suppliers offer to CBC members.

By 1995, only one year on from its incorporation, CBC was growing steadily. Konrad Czajka felt it necessary to recruit another suitably experienced purchasing professional. Paul Swithenbank joined the board of CBC as Sales and Marketing Director at that time. Since then, Paul has taken over the company in its entirety, and CBC has since grown to hold a membership of around two-hundred businesses, with a combined purchasing spend in excess of £5million annually.