RISING STARS THE NEXT GENERATION
BMJ meets some of the younger members of the sector, those ensuring that the industry will thrive in the future. This month, City Plumbing’s Leo Bringham
What is your current role?
I’m a branch manager with City Plumbing Supplies.
How did you get into this industry? I think most people would say they didn’t grow up saying they wanted to work in a building materials merchant, and I’m no different. I fell into it when I came to a crossroads in my life in 2020. I was due to sit my A-Levels and was at a loss as to what to do afterwards. An old acquaintance offered me an apprenticeship, and the rest was history.
What does a typical day for you at work look like?
Typical is very uncommon. It varies from desk-based work; such as pricing quotes, checking in with accounts and admin, to branch-based tasks such as pitching in on the counter, phones and emails, health and safety bits, and (a personal favourite) getting out to see customers, I love seeing customers on site and getting to know them and what they’re doing. Extra points when they clearly love their job and show you all the details.
What are your big challenges in this role?
The market and its turbulence. I started in Covid, which meant people had spare cash and money to spend on their houses they’d been stuck in. We can be at the mercy of the economy to a degree, but luckily, as a business, we’re incredibly resilient, and areas such as commercial are always required.
What do you think has been your biggest achievement in your role? I think the journey of getting to where I am as a branch manager would certainly be my biggest achievement. I’m so fortunate to be where I am today, without certain people seeing my enthusiasm, helping me learn and championing me - I wouldn’t be here. Along the way, I’ve met some amazing people, won an award for my apprenticeship and had some real life lessons.
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What would you like to achieve next? In terms of my next job role, I couldn’t tell you! There are a few areas of the industry and jobs I find really interesting and would see myself gravitating towards. I’m focusing on proving to myself that I can run a successful business unit and lead a team. When I’ve achieved that challenge, I’ll have a cuppa and think about the next one…
What advice would you give to someone new to this industry? Merchanting is harder than it looks! If it looks smooth from the outside, it means a huge amount of graft and work behind the scenes is going right for it to work at the front end. To that end, you don’t learn anything if you don’t ask, shadow and soak in everything. I don’t think you can fully grasp the ‘job’ without understanding the sales, logistics, commercial etc parts of the business, so you just need to try it all.
What would you say to someone who might be thinking about a career or getting a job in the merchant industry? If you want to work in an industry with a purpose and a bunch of very hard- working people, get stuck in. Even if you find it’s not for you, it has so many transferable skills. Most jobs have touch points on operations, customer service and sales. I know people who have gone from warehouse assistants to showroom managers and then category managers, so they really tried it all and found their calling.
Why do you think young people, especially women, are hesitant to go into the industry?
For the first part, I think young people know that construction and the trades are an option for work, but don’t understand the amount of work there is in the background to enable the trades to do their jobs and have something on site to do! For the second part, let’s be honest, growing up, was there a push for women to join the construction industry? It’s never the ‘norm’ when in fact it really should be. At 3 key points in my career, I’ve been fortunate to have had 3 line managers (who happened to be women), and they changed the direction of my career and, as a result, my life. They were some of the fiercest but fairest leaders I’ve come across in my career, and the industry could do with more of them. They all started in the industry at a time when they were definitely an exception to the rule; it’s great to say that becomes the case less and less every day. BMJ
“If you want to work in an industry with a purpose and a bunch of very hard-working people, get stuck in. Even if you find it’s not for you, it has so many transferable skills. ”
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net April 2026
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