November 2016 COMMENT BMJ


BUILDERS MERCHANTS JOURNAL


Apprentice: you’ve hired!


So the UK Govern- ment wants to in- crease the number of apprentices in industry (all indus- tries, not just this


one) and wants to switch the em- phasis on paying for them appren- tices from taxpayers to employers. So far, so sensible.


Education Secretary Justine Greening, under whose remit the apprenticeship programme now falls, says this Government is “com- mitted to (providing) 3million new apprenticeships by 2020” and that they plan to spend £2.5bn to do it. We know that apprenticeships work in this industry – we’ve seen the results time and again at the BMF Awards night where the apprentices of the year at various levels are quite rightly lauded and rewarded for their hard work and commitment.


The Government being the Gov- ernment though, it is, naturally, not as simple as spending the money and getting the results. The Levy – which comes into force in April – will cost employers whose pay bill comes to more than £3m – plenty of merchants will fall into that category - 0.5% of their total pay bill. And they may not - ed in their own businesses. If a merchant pays out 0.5% of its pay bill but doesn’t then take


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BMJ November 2016


advantage of any of the appren- ticeship schemes around, they are basically subsidising those com- panies who do. Which could very well be their nearest competitors or a similar-sized merchant com- pany the other side of the country. This being the modern world, employers will have a digital ac- count they can use to fund appren- ticeship training. From 2018, there is the added complication that em- ployers can transfer digital funds to other employers in their supply chains, sector or to apprenticeship training agencies. So a merchant could, if so minded, get together with one of its builder custom- ers to ensure that there’s a fresh supply of customers as well as the merchants to serve them. The BMF has gone some way to explaining how the Levy will work in this issue and have been involved with the Apprenticeship Levy since it was announced in the July 2015 Budget.


If you, dear Reader, have ques- tions or concerns about how the Levy will affect your business, or you want to know how to make it work for you, then the BMF should  just the sort of thing that trade associations are for. The BMF is yours. Use it, people.


Fiona Russell Horne Editor-in-Chief


North & Midlands Sales: David Harman


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3 BMJ is proud to be a member of: CONTENTS


04 06


08 13 15


The Month What’s been happening in the last month.


News Extra Are you sure your are paying your staff enough?


News Extra: Apprentice Levy The BMF reports on the changes to Apprentice Levy funding.


Business Helpdesk The BMF Transport expert looks at logistics.


People News 16 20 23 31


Movers, shakers and 10 minutes with.... Comment and Opinion


Our headline and guest columnists.


Merchant Focus BMJ meets three members of NBG to find out their take on buying groups.


Heating The latest trends and developmnts with heating and plumbing


Painting and decorating When might it be time to re-evaluate your software requirements?


37 Sustainability 38 38


Is it time to take a more holistic approach to sustainable products?.


Transport & logistics Warehouse management and the latest transport contracts.


BMF Industry Voice News and views from the BMF.


40 Product News 46


Latest developments in stuff to sell on. And Finally


News, the odd slot and the crossword.


copying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without the express prior writ- ten consent of the publisher. The title Builders Merchants Journal is registered at Stationers’ Hall. Suppliers have contributed towards production costs of some photographs in this issue.


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