1. Business-customer status
By applying for or using a wholesale account, the customer confirms that:
- It is purchasing wholly or mainly for business purposes.
- The information supplied in its application is complete and accurate.
- The person opening or using the account is authorised to act for the business.
- It will notify Hellenic Grocery promptly of any change in ownership, legal entity, trading name, address, contact details or financial circumstances.
A wholesale account is personal to the approved business and may not be transferred to another person or legal entity without our written consent.
2. Approval of wholesale accounts
Opening an online account or receiving wholesale login details does not automatically provide credit facilities.
We may request information including:
- Legal business name and trading name.
- Company registration number.
- VAT number.
- Registered and trading addresses.
- Director, owner or responsible-person details.
- Accounts contact details.
- Trade references or credit-check information.
- Estimated purchasing requirements.
We may approve, decline, restrict, suspend or close a wholesale account where reasonably necessary.
3. Authorised account users
The customer is responsible for:
- Identifying the persons authorised to place orders.
- Protecting passwords and login details.
- Removing access when a member of staff or representative leaves.
- All orders placed using its account by an authorised user.
- Informing us immediately of suspected unauthorised access.
The customer must not share access with another business.
4. Prices and VAT
Wholesale prices are exclusive of VAT unless expressly stated otherwise.
VAT and any applicable delivery or handling charges will be added to the order or invoice.
Prices may be updated without notice before an order is accepted.
Any quotation is valid only for the period stated in it and remains subject to stock availability and acceptance of the order.
5. First wholesale order
All new wholesale customers must pay their first order in full before dispatch or collection.
Completion of the first prepaid order does not automatically create a right to credit.
After the first order has been completed and paid, the customer may be considered for credit facilities, subject to:
- Our approval.
- The customer’s payment history.
- Any credit checks or references.
- Expected purchasing levels.
- The level of commercial risk we are prepared to accept.
- Any credit limit or additional condition imposed by us.
We may require prepayment for additional orders or decline credit facilities entirely.
Until credit facilities have been expressly approved by us, all orders must be paid in full before dispatch or collection.
6. Thirty-day credit accounts
Where we approve a 30-day credit account:
- The invoice must be paid in full within 30 calendar days of its invoice date.
- The customer may have no more than one open invoice at any time.
- An “open invoice” means any invoice that has an unpaid balance, whether or not its 30-day payment deadline has been reached.
- Before we accept, confirm, process, pick, release, dispatch or make available another order, the existing open invoice must be paid in full in cleared funds.
- The 30-day period gives the customer up to 30 days to pay the open invoice. It does not give the customer the right to place further orders while that invoice remains unpaid.
- Once the open invoice has been paid in full, a further order may be processed, subject to stock availability, account status and these terms.
We may expressly agree a different arrangement in writing for a specific customer, order or commercial account.
7. Credit limits
Any credit facility is subject to the credit limit approved by us.
We may:
- Set or change a credit limit.
- Reduce or withdraw credit.
- Require full or partial prepayment.
- Require additional security or information.
- Refuse to process an order that would exceed the limit.
- Apply a lower practical limit than the maximum approved limit.
A credit limit is an internal maximum exposure and does not oblige us to accept an order up to that amount.
8. Payment
Payment must be made:
- In pounds sterling.
- To the bank account or payment method specified by us.
- Without unauthorised deduction, withholding, set-off or counterclaim.
- Using the invoice number or other reference requested by us.
Payment is received only when cleared funds are available to us.
The customer is responsible for bank charges and for ensuring that the correct amount reaches us.
We may allocate a payment against the oldest invoice or another outstanding amount where the customer has not provided a clear and valid remittance instruction.
9. Late payment
An invoice is overdue immediately after its stated payment date.
Where payment is overdue, we may:
- Suspend the wholesale account.
- Place the account on credit hold.
- Require payment before delivery for all new orders.
- Cancel or withhold unfulfilled orders.
- Withdraw or reduce the credit facility.
- Require immediate payment of other outstanding amounts where legally permitted.
- Recover reasonable collection and legal costs.
- Exercise any statutory or contractual rights relating to late commercial payment.
Where applicable, we reserve the right to claim statutory interest and fixed debt-recovery compensation under late-payment legislation.
Any decision not to charge interest or recovery costs on one occasion does not prevent us from exercising those rights later.
10. Credit hold
An account may be placed on credit hold where:
- An invoice is overdue.
- A promised payment date has been missed.
- A payment is reversed, rejected or dishonoured.
- The customer exceeds its credit limit.
- The customer breaches the one-open-invoice rule.
- Information supplied by the customer is inaccurate.
- We reasonably believe that the customer’s ability to pay has deteriorated.
- The customer enters or threatens insolvency, restructuring or cessation of trade.
- The customer materially breaches these terms.
No employee, salesperson, driver or warehouse team member may override a credit hold unless an authorised director or manager has approved the exception in writing.
11. Exceptions and payment arrangements
Any exception to the normal credit rules or any payment arrangement must be approved by us in writing.
A payment arrangement should specify:
- The total balance acknowledged.
- Each payment amount.
- Each payment date.
- The treatment of new orders.
- The consequences of a missed payment.
Unless expressly agreed otherwise, new orders placed while a payment arrangement is active must be paid in full before dispatch.
If an agreed payment is missed:
- The arrangement may be cancelled.
- The full outstanding balance may become immediately payable where legally permitted.
- The account will remain or be placed on credit hold.
- We may begin formal recovery action.
12. Orders
Orders are subject to:
- Product availability.
- Account approval.
- Compliance with the one-open-invoice rule.
- Compliance with the customer’s credit limit.
- Payment of any required deposit or prepayment.
- Our formal acceptance.
Customer purchase-order numbers, internal approval procedures or administrative processes do not alter the customer’s payment obligation unless we have agreed otherwise in writing.
Terms printed or referred to on the customer’s purchase order or other documentation will not override these terms unless expressly accepted by an authorised representative of Hellenic Grocery in writing.
13. Delivery and access
The customer must provide:
- Accurate delivery details.
- Safe and reasonable access.
- Any required access instructions.
- An authorised person to receive and inspect the order.
- Appropriate facilities for immediate storage of chilled, frozen and perishable goods.
We may charge reasonable redelivery, waiting, handling or storage costs where delivery cannot be completed because of the customer’s act or omission.
14. Inspection and reporting problems
The customer must inspect the delivery immediately on arrival.
Visible shortages, damage or incorrect products should be:
- Reported to the driver where reasonably possible.
- Recorded on the proof of delivery.
- Reported to us in writing within 24 hours of delivery.
- Supported by relevant photographs, product details and batch or date information where available.
Temperature, quality or condition concerns involving chilled, frozen or perishable goods must be reported immediately and no later than 24 hours after delivery.
A defect that could not reasonably have been found during the initial inspection must be reported as soon as reasonably possible after discovery.
The customer must retain affected goods and packaging safely for inspection and must not dispose of them unless we authorise disposal or there is an immediate legal or food-safety requirement.
Failure to notify us within the stated period may affect our ability to investigate the claim but will not exclude liability where exclusion would be unlawful or unreasonable.
15. Returns
Wholesale goods may only be returned with our prior written approval and in accordance with our return instructions.
We will not normally accept a return of:
- Correctly supplied goods that are no longer required.
- Chilled, frozen or perishable products.
- Opened or partly used products.
- Goods not stored or handled correctly.
- Goods damaged after delivery.
- Special-order products.
Where goods were defective, damaged before risk passed or incorrectly supplied, we may provide an appropriate refund, replacement or credit after investigation.
No deduction may be made from an invoice unless we have issued a credit note or agreed the deduction in writing.
16. Storage, food safety and onward sale
After delivery, the wholesale customer is responsible for:
- Correct storage and temperature control.
- Maintaining the cold chain.
- Safe handling and preparation.
- Stock rotation.
- Monitoring use-by and best-before dates.
- Providing legally required product and allergen information to its customers.
- Complying with all food-safety, licensing, resale and consumer-protection obligations applicable to its business.
The customer must not alter, obscure or remove product labels, batch information, dates, traceability details or safety information except where lawfully permitted.
17. Risk and ownership
Risk in wholesale goods passes to the customer when:
- The goods are delivered to the agreed delivery location;
- The goods are handed to the customer or its representative; or
- The goods are collected by or on behalf of the customer,
whichever applies.
Ownership of the relevant goods remains with Hellenic Grocery until we have received full payment for them.
Until ownership passes, the customer must, so far as reasonably possible:
- Store the goods properly.
- Keep them identifiable as goods supplied by Hellenic Grocery.
- Not create a charge or security interest over them.
- Inform us immediately of any insolvency or enforcement risk affecting them.
Any retention-of-title rights operate only to the extent permitted by law and the nature and condition of the goods.
18. Suspension and closure
We may suspend or close a wholesale account where:
- The account is inactive.
- The customer repeatedly pays late.
- The customer breaches the credit conditions.
- The customer supplies inaccurate information.
- There is a fraud, legal, reputational, food-safety or financial risk.
- The commercial relationship is no longer viable.
- The customer becomes insolvent or ceases trading.
Closure or suspension does not remove the customer’s obligation to pay outstanding invoices.
19. Liability
The business-liability provisions in the Website Terms and Conditions of Sale apply to wholesale purchases.
Nothing excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.
The customer is responsible for losses resulting from its failure to store, handle, prepare, label or resell goods correctly after delivery.
20. Changes to wholesale terms
We may update these Wholesale Account and Credit Terms.
Material changes will apply to future orders after they have been communicated or presented for acceptance.
We may require account users to accept an updated version before placing another order or continuing to use the wholesale portal.
Material changes will apply to future orders after they have been communicated or presented for acceptance.
We may require account users to accept an updated version before placing another order or continuing to use the wholesale portal.
21. Acceptance
By applying for, activating or continuing to use a wholesale account after these terms have been presented, the customer confirms that:
- Has read and accepted these Wholesale Account and Credit Terms.
- Accepts the Website Terms and Conditions of Sale.
- The person accepting them is authorised to act for the customer.
- Understands that its first wholesale order must be paid in full before dispatch or collection.
- Understands the one-open-invoice rule.
- Understands that 30-day terms do not permit additional unpaid invoices.
- Understands that a new order cannot be processed until the existing open invoice has been paid in full in cleared funds.
- Accepts that credit facilities can be suspended, changed or withdrawn.
22. Governing law and jurisdiction
These Wholesale Account and Credit Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales.
The courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction over wholesale and business disputes, unless we expressly agree otherwise in writing.