HNDA Ltd is a UK association representing home delivery newsagents. Their aim is impressive and clear:
“PREFERENTIAL TERMS” – That is our ultimate goal for all HNDA members with HND customers.
We will represent every UK Independent Home News Delivery Newsagent when negotiating the needs of our and your business with Publishers, Wholesaler Distributors and any other organisation looking to benefit from utilising our services directly or indirectly. Our package to Publishers and Wholesalers will be recognised as a break through for the whole News Trade Industry, most importantly the package is for the benefit of HND Newsagents ONLY.
From what I can see they are not engaged in commercial activity – theirs is a pure association offering for UK newsagents.
Although a very laudable effort to set up such an organisation I fear that it will be completely ignored by UK publishers who have a disdainful attitude to Newsagents. No collective bargaining / action is permitted in the newstrade due to a long standing court ruling which leaves the publishers to do as they please including regular terms cuts, no support for HND & saturation supply to any business that wants to sell a few papers. There a very few Newsagencies left now, most are convenience stores that sell newspapers. I owned a large HND Newsagency for 18 years in UK but frustration with lack of trade support led me to sell up in 2005, the final straw was a meeting I had with a major publisher to be told they had no interest in HND.
Steve, I would have to agree with you.
We too sold our distribution round and now only have retail and the papers are only a very miniscule part of my business
these days.
In the old days I would have crawled across the road to sell a newspaper but no longer are they our most profitable product and we are treating them accordingly.
I am amazed that newsagents in the UK would believe that HND would be worthwhile.
I think they’re flogging a dead horse.
Way off topic,but has anyone heard that GNS New South Wales isn’t having a fair this year.
GNS isn’t having a fair anymore as it does not satisfy either newsagents or suppliers. The best fairs for us now are the gift fairs.
On a side note to your side note, as a newsagent it still makes me sick seeing pictures of the GNS CEO at OfficeChoice Golf Days in Stationery News as OfficeChoice is in direct competition to me in my town!
Back to the main issue – do you think if a company was set up to wholly represent distribution agents that all dist agents would sign up. It would need total compliance for it to work and I am hopeful that the ACCC would allow it.