Supplier due diligence
The Suppliers area of SafetyBrik is your SFBB Suppliers' List - the digital replacement for the printed supplier sheet most operators keep at the back of their Safer Food Better Business pack.
You will find it at /safety/suppliers.
Why supplier due diligence matters
Under UK food law, you are responsible for the safety of the food you serve - including the ingredients and goods you bring in. The SFBB pack requires you to demonstrate due diligence on your suppliers: that you know who they are, you have checked them, and you have a record on file.
When an Environmental Health Officer visits, the Suppliers' List is one of the first things they will look at. They want to see, for every supplier:
- Who they are.
- How to contact them.
- What they supply.
- That you have a record of receiving from them on a regular basis.
A missing or out-of-date Suppliers' List is one of the easiest ways to lose marks on a food hygiene rating.
SafetyBrik suppliers vs CostingBrik suppliers
This is important and easy to get tangled up in:
| SafetyBrik suppliers | CostingBrik suppliers | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | SFBB due-diligence record for your EHO | Who you buy ingredients from for costing and invoicing |
| What it captures | Contact, delivery days, lead time, goods supplied, audit notes | Ingredient pricing, supplier variants, allergen declarations |
| Audience | EHO, food hygiene auditor, you on a visit | Costing, recipes, ingredient pricing |
These can be the same real-world business (your fruit and veg supplier appears in both), but they answer different questions. CostingBrik asks "how much does a kilo of tomatoes cost from this supplier?". SafetyBrik asks "do I have this supplier on file with their contact details and delivery schedule, ready to show an EHO?".
On many tenants, the suppliers list is sourced from CostingBrik automatically - SafetyBrik renders it read-only and provides a deep link to manage entries in CostingBrik. You will see a banner: "Suppliers are managed in CostingBrik. Changes there appear here automatically."
On tenants where SafetyBrik is the source, the list is fully editable and you can add, edit, and delete suppliers directly.
In both cases the purpose of the SafetyBrik view is the same: a clean, EHO-facing Suppliers' List.
What gets recorded per supplier
When SafetyBrik is the source, the supplier form captures:
- Business name - the trading name of the supplier.
- Contact name - your day-to-day contact.
- Phone and Email - how you reach them.
- Address - the supplier's address.
- Delivery days - which days of the week they deliver (Mon - Sun, multi-select).
- Lead time (days) - how far in advance you need to place an order.
- Goods supplied - free-text summary, e.g. "Fresh produce, dairy".
- Notes - anywhere to capture audit findings, food hygiene rating, certification renewal dates, or anything else you want on file for due diligence.
The Notes field is where most due-diligence detail lives. Use it for the supplier's Food Hygiene Rating, BRC / SALSA / organic certifications, the date you last reviewed them, and any incidents or quality issues. An EHO will appreciate seeing this in writing.
The suppliers list view
The list shows every supplier on a single page with:
- Business name and contact name.
- Phone and email together.
- Delivery days.
- Lead time.
- Goods supplied.
For editable lists, each row carries edit and delete actions (gated by your role - members can edit, admins and owners can delete). For read-only lists sourced from CostingBrik, actions are hidden and a "Manage in CostingBrik" link sits at the top of the page.
Adding or editing a supplier
When SafetyBrik is the source:
- Click Add supplier at the top of the list.
- Fill in the form - only Business name is required. Everything else is optional but recommended.
- Click Add supplier to save (or Save changes when editing).
To edit, click the pencil icon on any row. To delete, click the trash icon and confirm in the dialog. Deletes are immediate and cannot be undone, so the dialog asks you to confirm by name.
How records show up in audit and reports
Supplier records flow through to the wider SafetyBrik audit surface:
- Prove It - the EHO-facing dashboard surfaces your Suppliers' List alongside risk assessments, checks, and training records. Open it on a tablet during an inspection.
- Audit reports - the date-bounded export pack includes the Suppliers' List as part of the SFBB-style evidence bundle.
A practical due-diligence routine
A good rhythm for keeping suppliers' records EHO-ready:
- On onboarding - record the supplier the first time they deliver. Capture contact, delivery days, and goods supplied immediately.
- Quarterly - revisit the list, confirm contact details are current, and record the supplier's latest Food Hygiene Rating in Notes.
- On any incident - if a delivery is rejected, a quality issue arises, or a supplier changes hands, record it in Notes the same day.
- Before an inspection - open Prove It, scan the Suppliers' List, and make sure everything you actually buy from is on it.