Merchants

CHIC’s Merchants Framework, in collaboration with Efficiency North, provides social landlords with a compliant and efficient route to procure building materials, merchant services and managed stores solutions for responsive repairs, planned investment works, retrofit programmes and compliance activities. The framework has been developed to help address common challenges around rising material costs, supply chain reliability, inconsistent pricing and limited visibility of purchasing data.

CHIC manages a comprehensive portfolio of materials and components across approved manufacturers and merchants, helping members achieve benchmarked value for money and access volume discounts on commonly used products. Pricing is reviewed regularly to ensure members benefit from transparent and competitive catalogue management.

Members also receive regular reporting and purchasing analysis to help identify spending trends, improve stock control and explore more cost-effective product options. This supports better financial planning, improved operational efficiency and stronger long term asset management strategies.