NEWS EXTRA
All of these practical steps are relatively quick and easy to implement - it is not overstating it to say that they won’t just save your business; they could help to save lives.
Building materials needed
A friend is a senior NHS consultant and is involved in the set-up of the 2000-bed intensive care hospital in the Excel centre. He told me that they don’t just need hospital equipment; they also need building materials. If all the merchants close their doors, the NHS will struggle to get what it needs, resulting in a situation where lives may be lost due to the industry seeking to remove risk instead of doing what it does so well, which is to manage risk sensibly. The message being that there’s justification for staying open if you can do so safely, which is in line with the current government guidelines and advice published by the BMF. Another case I heard about yesterday came from a builder who has an unfinished job where the homeowner has no kitchen or boiler. If their local merchant were to close, that homeowner (one among many with incomplete projects) will have no cooking or heating facilities for at least an additional 3 weeks. That creates a tangible risk to the welfare to that family. I’m sure the arguments will rage both ways and there’s some validity in both.
The interesting thing about all these social distancing restrictions is that they have a negative impact on the convenience of the in-branch experience and since ‘convenience is the new loyalty’, it won’t be long before
customers take their business to the nearest online merchant. One thing to bear in mind is
that experts believe that Covid-19 may be around for as long the next 18 months, so there seems to be little doubt that, like the airports with their enhanced security, merchants branch operations are going to have to adapt and do so quickly. Whether you choose to stay open or close, every merchant can help with the crisis by participating in the initiative being spearheaded by the BMF to provide any spare PPE equipment to the NHS: Contact your local BMF manager for details. It is clear that this is not going to end anytime soon, even after this initial lock down, it’s certainly possible that there may be more to come.
Fundamental changes Anyone thinking that this will be something that we get through and everything will return to how it was before is mistaken. All builders’ merchants need to be rethinking their business model now and making fundamental changes that will remain long after the crisis ends. History shows that as consumer behaviour changes, it rarely reverts back to where it was beforehand.
Any merchants that don’t start planning now for the new future will be severely disadvantaged both during the crisis and, importantly, once we come out the other side.
So don’t think the traditional business model will still work in this brave new world – it is time to prepare for change now as the future is already staring you in the face.
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net April 2020
Top left: picture courtesy of Bradfords, all others courtesy of TJ O’Mahony, 15-branch builders merchant in the Republic of Ireland, showing the steps the businesses have taken to protect employees and customers.
9
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88
