COMMENT


The times, they stay a changin’


I


had the great pleasure of presenting to the BMF’s Young Merchants group a few weeks ago. I was asked to do so on account of my many years of experience in the industry, but so nicely, and in a way that didn’t make me feel like an old crone, despite the realisation that I am now in my 30th year of writing about bricks and bathrooms, paint and plumbing, SUDs and screws, the suppliers that supply them and the merchants that sell them. It was a really interesting exercise, in much the same way that the BMJ 100th anniversary issue back in August 2020 was. We don’t often take the opportunity to look back in detail at what once was, and compare it to what is now.


I joined BMJ in 1993, so it made sense to start my presentation with a look back at how the industry was structured at the beginning of that year. Top of the tree, Harcros, turning over just shy of £450m, followed by Wolseley, Jewson, Graham and Travis Perkins. Back then, the top five merchant chains in total turned over £1,825m, less than half of what Travis Perkins, the current market leader, achieved in 2022.


By 1998, Wolseley was at the top of the table, ahead of Travis Perkins, Graham, Jewson and Keyline, and their total turnover was £2,665m. Wolseley and TP had doubled their turnovers in the intervening five years, however Jewson, was a ‘mere’ £50m or so up on 1993, though at that point it had yet to take-over Harcros.


When that happened later that year, it did push the company back up the rankings; by 2003, the list, in order was: Jewson, Wolseley, Travis Perkins, Grafton and BSS. By this stage, finally, their combined turnovers of £5,723m were ahead of TP’s for last year.


I don’t have the space here to go through the entire


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 Anjali Sooknanan 01622 699106


asooknanan@datateam.co.uk


presentation and the figures, but one of the things that I did find interesting was how many of the names had disappeared.


Hands up, gentle readers, if you remember these merchants, and what happened to them: AAH, Hall & Co, BMSS, Harcros, Millingtons, Erith, Broombys, Build Center, UGS, Heatek Labone Cadel, Tricom, Asphaltic, Sharpe & Fisher, Jayhard, Jackson Shipley, Goodlands, Blandford Builders Merchants, JT Edwards, Omnico Plastics, Miller, Morris & Brooker, Cakebread Robey, EJ Thompson, British Dredging, Marlow & Co, Sherry & Haycock. I could go on...


Takeovers have characterised much of this industry’s journey in the last 30 years, and it doesn’t seem like that is going to be changing anytime soon. This issue of BMJ does, of course, include our 2023 edition of Trailblazers, and the takeovers, particularly the influx of private equity finance, have made this supplement harder than ever to get our heads around.


However, one of the things that a glance through the figures we have makes abundantly clear is why there continues to be so much M&A activity - because this is a sector where there is a great deal of success to be had. The usual caveat applies, of course, that we can only use the information we have available to us, either directly from the companies, or via Companies House. Most of the figures are for 2021, due to when year-end figures are filed at Companies House, and, of course, different year-ends also mean that we are not always comparing like-with-like either. That said, the League Tables show much of this industry is pretty healthy. Which means takeovers and ownership churn is likely to continue. BMJ


Fiona Russell-Horne Group Managing Editor - BMJ


“


Change begets change. Nothing propagates so fast.


Charles Dickens ”


CONTENTS 4 Newsround


The latest industry news from year-end results to new branches


8 News Extra


The Government’s Energy plan examined.


10 People


Who’s moved where and 10 Minutes With...h&b’s new CEO.


12 Business Helpdesk A guide to crane safety.


14 Business Focus Looking at procurement issues.


15 Viewpoint


Thoughts and opinions from our industry commentators


16 Merchant Focus Expanding out from a civils start.


18 Timber


Treatment issues and some merchant perspective.


24 IT


Developments, and digital marketing


28 Drainage Keeping on top of SUDS


33 Heavyside The sustainability angle


Production Controller: Nic Mandeville


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Publisher: Paul Ryder


pryder@datateam.co.uk CIRCULATION


ABC audited average circulation


July 2018-June 2019: 7,801 SUBSCRIPTIONS


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38 BMF Industry Voice The latest news from the BMF


40 Product News Stock to sell and latest developments


42 And Finally News and the BMJ prize crossword © Datateam Business Media Ltd 2023


All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means, electronic or mechanical including photo-copying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written 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.


SUPPLEMENT TRAILBLAZERS The annual who’s who guide to the top UK merchants


April 2023 www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net 3


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