News 

Founded 19 years ago, the Sphere 1 co-operative is a tool, fastener and concrete accessory distributor which brings together 105 preferred suppliers for its 151 members who work in the construction trade. 

Over the last five to seven years Sphere 1 has been growing consistently between 15% and 18% per year. “Our membership is growing so much that we are very selective in who we bring as members,” said vice president Rob Moe. During the past 18 months, the co-op has been approached by over 100 distributors who wanted to join it but only accepted a dozen of these.

While the 2008 economic crisis affected Sphere 1, the co-op structure helped it overcome the challenges posed by the recession. What are the co-op’s plans for the future? Along with targeting another 12 to 20 new members, it is looking at attracting specific suppliers and re-energising its training platform.

The co-operative’s Sphere 1 university is an online training platform. The platform enables suppliers to submit information on new product information, specific installation and application training, safety training and sales training. Members receive rewards for completing courses. Sphere 1 members have a total purchasing value of $1.7bn a year.