What is the purpose of LMC Buying Groups?

The objective ofthe LMC Buying Group is to obtain, through negotiation with suppliers, the best possible discounts on a range of goods and services, which practices regularly buy, minimising practice expense and maximising income, and saving GPs and Practice Managers the trouble of ‘shopping around' to obtain value for money.

There is no compulsion for practices to use the recommended suppliers and it doesn't cost a penny to be a member.

What is the LMC Buying Groups Federation?

The LMC Buying Groups Federation was established in 2009 and comprises LMC Buying Groups throughout the country which have been established with the help of PSS (Notts) Ltd, a subsidiary of Nottinghamshire LMC Ltd. Each of the groups has been based on the model of the Nottinghamshire LMC Buying Group which has been operating successfully for over a decade.

How does it work?

The LMC Buying Groups Federation:

  • negotiates agreements/discounts from suppliers
  • supplies information to practices about the discounts
  • monitors and researches prices
  • polices the agreement with suppliers, investigates complaints and undertakes consumer satisfaction surveys

The Suppliers:

  • offer large discounts in anticipation of significant extra business, courtesy of the Buying Group's promotions
  • the contracts are between individual practices and suppliers
  • through the Federation the Group influences the terms of contracts and negotiates the price of goods to members

Are all the LMC's practices members of the buying group?

All practices that pay their LMC statutory/administrative levy or equivalent are eligible to join their LMC's Buying Group.

Who are the Buying Group’s suppliers?

A list of our suppliers is available on our website: To view discounts and pricing you need to log-in to the Members section once you receive your membership username and password from us:

How much can we save practices?

Examples from LMC Buying Group member practices (2012/13):

Practice Location / Commodity Area / Buying Group Supplier / Current Annual Spend / Proposed Annual Spend / Saving
Derbyshire / Medical Consumables / MidMeds / £14,137 / £10,069 / £4,068
North Yorkshire / Office Consumables / Whittaker Office Solutions / £11,001 / £7,968 / £3,033
Nottinghamshire / Insurance / MIAB / £8,887 / £4,485 / £4,402
London / Telecoms / Atech Network Services / £4,011 / £1,706 / £2,304
Leicestershire / Electricity / Untied Utilities / £9,356 / £6,086 / £3,270

How do I find out more?

You can call us on 0115 979 6910, email us at Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.or visit the website at