Howard Grant, md of United Merchants (Unimer) has announced that Dennis Smith, md of Bradfords Building Supplies, has joined the Unimer Board as a nonexecutive director. Smith brings with him a wealth of merchant experience and an in depth understanding of the merchant sector, Unimer says.<br> <br> Smith (pictured) has more than 35 years' experience of the merchant industry, having started as a trainee at Jewson prior to moving to Hall &amp; Co where he enjoyed a number of senior positions before progressing to operations director. Following the acquisition of Hall &amp; Co by Wolseley in 1999, Smith was appointed to his current position as md of Bradfords Building Supplies, the long established family owned South West based builders merchant. He served as an elected director of the Builders Merchant Federation from 2006 to 2011.<br> <br> Unimer is a non-profit making merchant co-operative.