About us
The Northern Housing Consortium (NHC) represents the views of housing organisations across the North of England, helping our members make the region a great place to live.
With membership made up of nearly 90% of social housing providers across the North, the work we do can impact on around 1.3m homes and 3.5m people.
Our offer to our members is powerful. By bringing together the sector we create one voice for housing in the North, helping to raise the profile of the innovative work and services being delivered by our members and draw attention to the challenges the sector is facing.
What we do
The work of the NHC spans three key areas - policy and public affairs, procurement and efficiency, and conference and events.
In the last year accessing our procurement frameworks has saved our members around £12m. Our member engagement programme has helped 132 members engage with key sector leaders and policy makers, and almost 2,000 delegates have attended our events.
Why we do it
With over 30 years’ experience in the industry our strength lies in our understanding of the housing sector in the North and the challenges it is faced with. Challenges, the likes of which are, very often different to those in other parts of the country.
Our understanding of the political, social and economic make up on the Northern regions means that we are best placed to represent the sector and our strong relationships with government ensures that we are well positioned to influence key players at a local and national level.
And as a not-for-profit organisation our members can be sure that our approach to business is one which has social value at its heart, always ensuring that the services we offer help them achieve value for money.
Our Members
We have 188 full members, made up of Local Authorities, Arms Length Management Organisations (ALMO's), Registered Providers (RP's), and other stakeholder organisations involved in housing from across the North East, North West and Yorkshire and Humberside.
Alongside this a further 269 members from outside of the North have joined us to take advantage of our procurement and efficiency services as well as our events, adding further influence and strength to our offer.
What is Members Market Place (MMP)?
Members Market Place is a products,services, framework, good practice and general information directory available to our members via our website to ensure they are able to source everything they need, when they need it, in one place.
Whilst Members Market Place is primarily aninformation directory,it can also be a suitable platform to advertise members’ vacancies, both Board level and operational.
Members Market Place will constantly evolve and grow with new suppliers and services being sourced continually. Where members are searching for services that don’t feature on Members Market Place, our analytics will recognise this and Northern Housing Consortium will find the relevant people to provide the services members require.
Following Northern Housing Consortium’s detailed research, we know our members are interested in having and using a reliable directory of suppliers available to them, therefore we will constantly analyse feedback from members to ensure that only the best organisations form the Members Market Place whilst also rating the quality of service members have received from the suppliers they have worked with.
How it works
Our offer to suppliers
Announcement of new suppliers
Northern Housing Consortium will announce and promote the inclusion of new suppliers each time they join within our member newsletter. Members Market Place is a high priority within Northern Housing Consortium and we actively promote it.
Discounted exhibition and sponsorship packages
Northern Housing Consortium runs an annual conference and events programme which is attended by hundreds of our members. For interested suppliers, there are various opportunities to exhibit at or sponsor appropriate events at discounted rates. These provide excellent networking opportunities whilst also heightening company profiles.
Theme-based advertising in our monthly EZine which goes out to members
Our EZine goes out to 4,900 contactsevery month. We periodically feature suppliers in the EZine whenever we run an article which is relevant to suppliers who are part of Members Market Place.
Good practice case studies and work between suppliers and members featured in appropriate briefings, papers and events
Members Market Place is designed so that members can search for good practice as well as suppliers. Any work suppliers have carried out with housing providers can be submitted as good practice, and these will be featured as case studies as and when appropriate in any policy briefings or EZine articles.
Pricing
Members Market Place Annual Fee:
£250 + VAT
Northern Housing Consortium will recover a finder’s fee for each piece of work you win as a result of advertising through the market place. This fee will be at a rate of 5% of the contract value per piece of work won. However we understand that depending upon the services you offer, we may need to be more flexible on fees, and we will be happy to discuss this once you have registered.
Our request to you
By registering to Members Market Place, you agree to be bound by our terms and conditions, which can be found at the end of this pack.
How you can join
In order to be part of the MMP, you will need to complete a short application form and from this Northern Housing Consortium will carry out basic viability checks which will include insurance and financial standing. The purpose of this is so that our members can choose the level of check they want to carry out beyond this, and to give them confidence in you as a supplier. A full set of questions, and information on our financial scoring criteria, can be found in the application form.
We use Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) to assess the financial risk of all supplier applications. The rating ascertained at the time of investigation will then determine application progression - onto either a Pass, Fail or Hold outcome. This check will be carried out annually.
Rating status and action
Rating 1 = Automatic Pass (Minimum Risk of Business Failure)
Rating 2 = Automatic Pass (Lower than Average Risk of Business Failure)
Rating 3 = Hold & Review (Higher than Average Risk of Business Failure)
- The application will be put on hold pending further investigation; this would entail a D&B Comprehensive Report, internal review and NHC would possibly seek trade/customer references. Following this we would seek to either pass or fail the application using the additional information.
Rating 4 = Automatic Fail (High Risk of Business Failure)
- The application will be put on hold pending further investigation; this would entail a D&B Comprehensive Report, internal review and NHC would possibly seek trade/customer references. Following this we would seek to either pass or fail the application using the additional information. Should the application fail, the supplier can reapply in 6 months time.
Rating 5 or Null = Hold & Review (Undetermined Risk based on insufficient information available for D&B to assess risk at the time)
- The application will be put on hold pending further investigation; this would entail a D&B Comprehensive Report, internal review and NHC would possibly seek trade/customer references. Following this we would seek to either pass or fail the application using the additional information
Members Market Place is an area where suppliers of products and services who are of interest to the housing sector can advertise to the Northern Housing Consortium membership. We check the financial standing of suppliers and ask members to feed back on their experience of using these suppliers. It is important to note that suppliers have not and will not be put through any competitive tendering exercise at this stage and therefore we cannot guarantee that the products and services offered are the best value option; nor that suppliers hold any ‘preferred’ or ‘approved’ status. Northern Housing Consortium may monitor usage and the types of products and services accessed.
FAQs
How will your members contact me?
As part of your listing on Members Market Place, members will see a contact form- this allows them to email you with their initial query and initiates the discussion between the supplier and member before progressing to any work taking place. Northern Housing Consortium are copied in on this initial contact.
Can I include a link to my website?
Yes. When you apply to become part of MMP, we will ask you to submit 200 words which describe the services you offer. We will also include a link to your website too, so members can access further information about you.
How does the search work?
Members have two search options, either to search via a free text box or by using pre-defined categories. We use a tagging and keyword system, so suppliers, events, services and documents are tagged with key search terms that we predict members will use to search. We also monitor what members are searching for on a regular basis, which allows us to recommend existing suppliers, add new more appropriate tags and source new suppliers if we need to.
How do I find out more?
You can contact our Efficiency Managers, Kate Maughan or Nigel Johnston on 0191 5661000, or at
How do I sign up?
Please complete the application form at the end of this pack, and send it to we will then contact you to confirm we have received your application.
Supplier application form for Members Market Place
The application form constitutes an offer by the Supplier to become a member of the MMP in accordance with the terms and conditions(see end of this pack). The application form shall only be deemed to be accepted when NHC issues written acceptance of the application form at which point the MMP Membership Agreement shall come into existence.
1ORGANISATION AND CONTACT DETAILSFull name of organisation
Organisation Details
Registered office address / Company or charity registration number
VAT registration number
Name of immediate parent company
Name of ultimate parent company
Type of organisation / i) a public limited co.
ii) a limited company
iii) a limited liability partnership
iii) other partnership
iv) sole trader
v) other (please specify)
Year of establishment
Duns code (Dunn & Bradstreet)
Name, email address and tel no of the person responsible for financial matters
1.1 Contact details
Please list details for the main contact for MMP
Name
Job Title
Address
Post Code
Country
Phone
Mobile
2FINANCIAL INFORMATION
2.1GROUNDS FOR MANDATORY REJECTION
Please note if you cannot answer ‘No’ to every question in this section your application will not be accepted.
Please state ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to each question.
Has your organisation, or any directors, or partner, or any other person who has powers of representation, decision or control been convicted of any of the following offences? / AnswerYes or No
(a)conspiracy within the meaning of section 1 or 1A of the Criminal Law Act 1977 or article 9 or 9A of the Criminal Attempts and Conspiracy (Northern Ireland) Order 1983 where that conspiracy relates to participation in a criminal organisation as defined in Article 2 of Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA;
(b)corruption within the meaning of section 1 of the Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act 1889 or section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 (as amended), including the offence of bribery, where the offence relates to active corruption;
(c)the offence of bribery within the meaning of the Bribery Act 2010;
(d)fraud, where the offence relates to fraud affecting the financial interests of the European Communities as defined by Article 1 of the Convention relating to the protection of the financial interests of the European Union, within the meaning of:
(i)the offence of cheating the Revenue;
(ii)the offence of conspiracy to defraud;
(iii)fraud or theft within the meaning of the Theft Acts 1968 and 1978 (and any related Acts in the jurisdiction of Northern Ireland);
(iv)fraud within the meaning of the Fraud Act 2006
(v)fraudulent trading within the meaning of section 458 of the Companies Act 1985 or section 993 of the Companies Act 2006 (and any related Acts in the jurisdiction of Northern Ireland);
(vi)defrauding the Customs within the meaning of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 and the Value Added Tax Act 1994;
(vii)an offence in connection with taxation in the European Community within the meaning of section 71 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993;
(viii)destroying, defacing or concealing of documents or procuring the extension of a valuable security within the meaning of section 20 of the Theft Act 1968 (and any related Acts in the jurisdiction of Northern Ireland);
(e)money laundering within the meaning of the Money Laundering Regulations 2003 or Money Laundering Regulations 2007; or the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002;
(f)any other offence within the meaning of Article 45(1) of Directive 2004/18/EC as defined by the national law of any relevant State.
(g)Any offence relating to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
(h)Any offence in connection with the proceeds of drug trafficking within the meaning of the Drug Trafficking Act 1994
(i)Any offence in connection with the proceeds of criminal conduct within the meaning of section 93A, 93B or 93C of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (and any related Acts in the jurisdiction of Northern Ireland);
2.2GROUNDS FOR DISCRETIONARY REJECTION
- The Consortium is entitled to exclude your submission from further consideration if any of the following discretionary points apply.
- If you cannot answer ‘No’ to every question your application may be rejected.
- In the event that any of the following do apply, please set out (in a separate Annex) full details of the relevant incident and any remedial action taken subsequently.
- The information provided will be taken into account by the Consortium in considering whether or not you will be able to proceed any further in respect of your application.
Please state ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to each question
Is any of the following true of your organisation? / AnswerYes or No
(a) being an individual,
- is bankrupt, or
- has had a receiving order, or
- administration order ,or
- bankruptcy restrictions order, made against them or
- has made any composition or arrangement with or for the benefit of his creditors or
- has not made any conveyance or assignment for the benefit of his creditors or
- appears unable to pay or to have no reasonable prospect of being able to pay, a debt within the meaning of section 268 of the Insolvency Act 1986, or article 242 of the Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 1989, or
- in Scotland has granted a trust deed for creditors or become otherwise apparently insolvent, or
- is the subject of a petition presented for sequestration of his estate, or is the subject of any similar procedure under the law of any other state;
(b) being a partnership constituted under Scots law, has granted a trust deed or become otherwise apparently insolvent, or is the subject of a petition presented for sequestration of its estate; or
(c) being a company or any other entity within the meaning of section 255 of the Enterprise Act 2002, has passed a resolution or is the subject of an order by the court for the company’s winding up otherwise than for the purpose of bona fide reconstruction or amalgamation, or had a receiver, manager or administrator on behalf of a creditor appointed in respect of the company’s business or any part thereof or is the subject of similar procedures under the law of any other state?
2.3FINANCIAL STANDING
The Consortium needs to have an understanding of the supplier’s financial position to determine whether or not they are financially viable and able to deliver the required services to the Member organisations for as long as they are offering goods or services via MMP.
1
2
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.3.1To enable a thorough analysis please attach, in electronic format:
A copy of your most recent audited accounts, preferably covering a 24 month periodPlease Note: If you are unable to provide two years, please provide, as a minimum, 12 months
Details attached: / Yes No
2.4INSURANCE
NOTE: We require electronic copies of your certificates and policies
2
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4.1All suppliers must demonstrate that they haveEmployer’s liability insurance, where applicable.
Please confirm that you have Employers Liability insurance with a minimum of £5 million? / Yes NoN/A
2.4.2All suppliers must demonstrate that they havePublic liability and Professional indemnity
insurances
Please confirm that you have Public liability insurance with a minimum of £5 million / Yes NoPlease confirm that you have Professional Indemnity insurance with a minimum of £1 million (where applicable) / Yes No
N/A
2.4.3Please submit below a 200 word statement which describes the nature of the work you do – this is what our members will see on the MMP. Please also suggest some keywords you would like to be tagged with, as our search engine will look for these first, followed by keywords in the general text.
Link to your website:Insert a jpeg of your logo for inclusion on the MMP: (please provide a high quality jpeg)
5 Keywords (this is important for the search facility on our site):
Supplier Checklist – have you included:
- A copy of your audited accounts?
- Proof of insurances?
- Your company logo?
terms & conditions of membership for MMP suppliers