COMMENT
Talking ‘bout the next generation
O
nce upon a time, a young man set up a builder’s merchant business and ran it successfully for a number of years. Then, when the time was right, he handed the reins of the business over to his son who ran the business before handing it over to his son, and so on, down throughout the decades. Sometimes, the sons were actually daughters, in other cases there were no direct descendants and the reins were sold to someone else’s sons and daughters, who carried on the businesses before handing over to their own next generation.
The last two years have been turbulent, there’s no getting away from it. The pandemic and the lockdowns and then the supply complications caused by a range of things from the whole world seemingly desperate to do up the garden and build that patio kitchen, to half the factory workers or lorry drivers being off with Covid or a big ship getting stuck in a canal (you couldn’t make this stuff up!), have taken their toll. Who could blame anyone for wanting to cash in their chips and go off and enjoy the fruits of all those years of hard work? Especially if it looks as though there isn’t the same enthusiasm for taking over the reins amongst one’s next generation.
And yet, we have to work to encourage that next generation to take up those challenges. Maybe not the reins of their own family company – you can run an amazingly successful business in this game even if your name isn’t above the door – but the reins of one of them. I’m not just talking about merchanting here either. The construction industry needs to attract more young people in at all levels: manufacturing to ensure that the products get made by people who understand them, merchanting, so that there are people selling those products, and building because without customers, merchants are just over-stocked warehouses.
Which brings me nicely to another point. I don’t CONTACTS
Builders Merchants Journal Datateam Business Media London Road Maidstone Kent ME15 8LY Tel: 01622 687031
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net
EDITORIAL Group Managing Editor: Fiona Russell Horne 01622 699101 07721 841382
frussell-horne@datateam.co.uk
Assistant editor: Anjani Sooknanan 01622 699106
asooknanans@datateam.co.uk Production Controller:
normally use this column to highlight individual features in the actual issue, that’s a bit too Women’s Weekly for me, but I am making an exception. On page 10 of this issue, you will find details about the Maddie Rose Campaign. It’s a pan-industry initiative designed to raise the profile of this amazing sector amongst young people. Supported by merchants, manufacturers, the Worshipful Company of Builders Merchants and the BMF, it’s being spear-headed by the Construction Youth Trust.
The Construction Youth Trust works mainly in London and the South-East at the moment, across schools and youth organisations to introduce young people to the wide range of career options on offer within the sector. Not just in merchanting of course, but in manufacturing and construction. The aim is eventually, to be able to roll out the programme to other regions, and this is part of what the Campaign aims to do.
The Maddie Rose Campaign is, of course, a tribute to Maddie Hollamby, and is a way of trying to make something good come out of her tragic loss. Maddie loved this industry, and on September 22 last year the sector paid that forward by flooding social media with love for her, and raising donations to the fund set up in her memory. That fund forms the basis for this Campaign. The way that the industry came together on that day showed how right Maddie was to have such faith in it, and to be so dedicated to opening the sector up to other young people. Her work on this issue had only just started; this Campaign aims to continue it, and to ensure something positive comes out of the darkest of events. I feel really honoured that BMJ is able to play our part in this. We’re doing this for Maddie, for her family and for the future of the industry. For Maddie, with love x BMJ
Fiona Russell-Horne Group Managing Editor - BMJ
Nic Mandeville ADVERTISING
Publication Manager: Dawn Tucker 01622 699148 07934 731232
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Publisher: Paul Ryder
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ABC audited average circulation July 2018-June 2019: 7,801
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light, despite the darkness.
Hope is being able to see that there is
Desmond Tutu
April 2022
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net
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