NEWS IN BR
Chancellor disappoints BMF on new housing provision The Budget could have contained
more details on investment in new buildings and existing properties to decarbonise homes on the road to a net zero carbon economy. That’s according to John Newcomb, chief executive of the Builders Merchants Federation. Rishi Sunak, MP, Chancellor
of the Exchequer, announced his first Budget since taking over from Sajid Javid and Newcomb pointed out that household energy- efficiency was noticeable by its absence, both from his speech, and from the Budget Red Book. “For understandable reasons, the Chancellor gave a wholly different Budget to Parliament than he had originally planned to when he took up the job a month ago,” he said. “The threat posed by a coronavirus outbreak and the likely impact on the building
Brownfield beats green in Jenrick’s new planning proposals
IN BRIEF
Howarth Timber & Building Supplies has completed an extensive refurbishment of its Darwen branch as part of a wider programme of investment across the UK. Howarth has operated its Darwen branch on Spring Vale Lane since 2007.
materials’ supply chain is a hot topic among BMF members”. Newcomb said that one genuine worry for BMF
members is a downturn in the home improvement market, where projects are cancelled or postponed, because either the home-owner is confined at home, unable to work, or that their trade customers are unavailable if they have self-isolate”. A package of incentives – including a cut in VAT to 5% for home improvements – was to persuade and encourage residents to upgrade their home”.
Ibstock plans new £45m brick factoryk pla Brick manufacturer Ibstock is to build
a new £45m clay brick factory in Walsall.
Chief executive Joe Hudson said: “Within our Clay division, which is operating in a market in which demand for bricks exceeds that
available from domestic manufacturing capacity, we have a number of opportunities to enhance capacity in both our wire-cut and soft mud operations. To this end, we will initiate construction in 2020 of a new, state-of-the-art 80 million per annum brick factory, at an existing site, which will have an industry leading manufacturing cost and sustainability profile.”
production by 80m units when it’s finished in 2022.
Ibstock’s results for the year to December 31 2019 show a 12% drop in pre-tax profit to £82m on turnover that was up 5% to £409m.
JCB halts production in the UK halts production in the UK
JCB last month stopped production at all of its UK manufacturing plants to the end of March as disruption resulting from the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic causes an unprecedented reduction in global demand. The company is halting production for the rest of this week and the whole of next week at its nine manufacturing plants in Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Wrexham.
JCB CEO Graeme Macdonald said: “These measures are unprecedented in the history of JCB but are absolutely necessary to protect the business. As we continue to deal with the health implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become more challenging to maintain business continuity in this volatile economic climate.
April 2020
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net
Development on brownfield sites will be made easier under planning reforms set out by Robert Jenrick MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, today (March 12). Councils will be encouraged to take a more innovative approach to home building – by ensuring redevelopment of high streets is housing-led, building upwards and above and around stations. Next month the government
will launch a register of brownfield sites which will map out unused land as part of plans to encourage councils to make the most of this land first – backed by £400 million to bring this mostly unused land back to use. This follows a package of measures announced in yesterday’s Budget to help more people onto the housing ladder by building more affordable homes and speeding up the planning process.
Darwen’s relaunch includes a revamped bathroom displays and a brand- new warehouse holding MDF skirts/architrave and window boards.
HRH, the Duke of
Cambridge opened the new National Skills and Safety Park set up by Ta
Tarmac near
armac
Mansfield. The
park will provide practical training for
emerging
industry talent – including apprentices, graduates and those retraining from other sectors.
His Royal Highness met with a number of Tarmac’s young apprentices to learn more about their roles and career ambitions.
Nick Knowles, presenter of BBC TV’s DIY SOS and the face of construction TV, will be the keynote speaker at the Builders Merchants Federation’s Young
Merchants Conference this year. The event takes place on Wednesday 7 October, during UK Construction Week at the NEC, Birmingham.
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