The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Using A Local Supplier
So what just is a local supplier? At first sight the term ‘local’ may be defined simply in terms of geographical distance but the issue is not in fact quite that straight forward. Thus, whilst a supplier located a couple of miles away is clearly local, how far do we have to go before the term ‘local’ ceases to be valid; 10 miles? 20? 55? We might also consider the ease of contacting the supplier as a factor, so to the basic criterion of distance we might add ‘time taken’
So, as an example the time taken to go to a meeting with a supplier 10 miles up the M6 north of Birmingham can often take longer than the time taken to travel 60 miles on less congested roads. A further criterion is the product itself. A buyer may well describe a source of supply 150 miles away as ‘local’ if the supplier is in a niche market. But for more commonplace products (plastic mouldings for instance) a buyer may well feel that 10 miles is the maximum for the supplier to be classed as ‘local’. In summary, there is no one appropriate definition for ‘local’ in this context but for the purpose of this practice document the expression means ‘based within easy reach of the buyer’.
Thus, a local supplier who may be based up to 10 miles from your location could well be sourcing their stock they sell to you direct from their supplier – who are based even further away! So even though the initial intention was done with good intentions, by trying to reduce your carbon footprint by thinking of the supply chain – in fact this change could make little to no difference at all!
So with 9 national delivery depots, Global may be based in London but are able to deliver locally to anywhere in the UK! So choose us as your ‘local’ supplier!
