H&C News meets with suppliers regularly to keep up to date with the latest product and service innovations, aiming to get the inside track on what companies offer to the market and how it is delivered.
This week, we met with John Pinder, managing director of Lynx Purchasing while he was between visits to customers, to gain a better understanding of the business.
Lynx Purchasing works with more than 2200 businesses including cafés, hotels, pubs, restaurants, healthcare and education providers. Lynx offers access to the best prices in the market across a wide range of products, with no fees or contracts. Lynx customers also benefit from detailed market insight, enabling them to plan menus more effectively.
Lynx Purchasing is known for regular comments in the trade media on pricing trends, as well as for its GP calculator App, but can you tell us about your core business?
We’re a team of buying specialists, with wide experience of working with chefs, caterers and hospitality businesses. Some of us previously had roles with catering wholesalers, while others have an operational background in hotels and restaurants, but the common thread is that we understand what drives operators in terms of helping them to source the right products and services, and to manage their costs.
How does your service work in practice?
We carry out a confidential audit of an operators’ existing procurement and suppliers, and will recommend new suppliers or, if needed, renegotiate with existing distributors. The operator then pays their suppliers directly, but at prices negotiated by us, so nothing changes in the way they do their buying but the price. Crucially, the service is absolutely free to the operator, with no contract to sign and no tie-in to Lynx. We make our money through a small rebate payment from the supplier.
What do you need from operators?
The main thing is that they are open with us about their current buying. The best way to achieve that to give us access to their current invoices, so we can carry out an audit and benchmark current prices against other suppliers. We know that requires trust, but it’s an entirely confidential service, and the savings we deliver are often substantial.
What type of operators do you work with?
We cover the full range, from five star hotels to well known, award winning groups such as Peach Pubs and Snug Bars, expanding casual dining operators such as Benito’s Hat, as well as cafés, care homes and many others. There are case studies on our website although we also have some very well-known customers who prefer to maintain a competitive advantage and keep their relationship with Lynx under wraps.
What range of products do you offer access to?
Food and drink is at the heart of our offer, but we do so much more, and have strong relationships with suppliers across a wide range of areas. These include office stationery, lighting, disposables, cleaning & hygiene products, chemicals, guest amenities, utilities and telecoms. The savings we can offer are substantial, often amounting to tens of thousands of pound annually.
Caterers are sometimes wary about buying groups – why is that?
We know there are operators who have had difficult experiences with other purchasing groups, and we always emphasise that we have very different approach. Where there are strong, well-established relationships with key suppliers, it’s not our role to change those, or ask chefs to use products they aren’t sure of. Central to our approach is the no-fee, no-ties model. However, in almost every case we can improve profitability without any compromise on quality.
How about the other things that Lynx is known for?
Much of the media coverage of pricing trends is generated by our regular Market Forecast, which draws on exclusive information from our suppliers as well as national statistics. A free copy of the Spring 2015 Lynx Purchasing Market Forecast can be downloaded from the Lynx Purchasing website at Lynx Purchasing Market Forecast Spring 2015
The FREE Lynx Purchasing GP Calculator App is a marketing tool which helps to build awareness of us where it’s needed most, in the kitchen. It’s the first digital product to be endorsed by the Craft Guild of Chefs, and can be downloaded at
Lynx Purchasing GP Calculator App for Apple iPhone and iPad
Lynx Purchasing GP Calculator App on Google Play
Lynx Purchasing
01937 591088
Email us savings@lynxpurchasing.co.uk
For our website click here