COMMENT


Get ready to celebrate


I


t’s that time of year again. That time of year when I fill the 500-word space on this page with some shameless self-publicity. Well, if not quite self, then BMJ-specific publicity at


least. This month, despite the many interesting/ annoying/frustrating/scary issues in the wider world and, indeed, the wider industry, that I could expound upon in these pages, I instead turn my attention closer to home.


I suppose one of the signs of increasing age is that annual events seem to come by more and more quickly. And so it is with our BMJ Industry Awards, the final shortlist for which you will find in these pages.


As usual, this is the only awards programme in this sector where the decisions are made, not by a judging panel, but by individuals, by the people who work with, for, and alongside the nominees. By the people who sell to them and who are sold to by them. Who better to know, to use what has become the marketing cliché du jour, what good looks like?


So, might I humbly suggest that you peruse the Awards pages of this issue to find out which people, which companies and which brands, out of the many nominations we receive, have garnered sufficient votes to make it to the Finalists list.


To remind you of the methodology of the Awards process, we launched this year’s event in February, opening the nominations window to those who wanted to enter themselves, their company, their peers, their colleagues, their suppliers or their customers.


We then put that list to an industry vote, farming it out to a secure online portal to make that all votes are above board, and not someone’s


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 Oliver Stanley 01622 699185


ostanley@datateam.co.uk


Production Controller: Nic Mandeville


Mum or their hairdresser voting for them 48 times.


The people who made it to the nominations list were there because someone believed that they deserved to be there. The people who have made it from there to the finalists list are there because they were the ones who got the most votes. We launched these Awards, way back inthe dim and distant pre-Covid past, in order to add one more celebratory slot to the building materials sector calendar. It was also so that we could highlight and celebrate the huge amount of talent, often unsung, that ensures this industry gets through each day doing what it does best: meeting customers’ needs.


Luckily, we found people who believed, like us, that this was something worth doing, and who supported us by entering, voting and coming along to the events. Obviously, we are also very grateful to our partner, the IoBM, and all our sponsors, without whom nothing much would happen in this sector, but those early supporters, who took the leap of faith with us, have a special place in BMJ’s collective heart.


All this is about a bit more than simply meeting customers’ needs though. One of the things that I have always felt is that this sector isn’t just making and selling building materials, it’s making and selling the materials to build lives, to build the future. What gets made by suppliers, stocked and sold by merchants, and used by builders creates houses, it creates homes. Places that people are born in, they grow up in, they fall in love in, they die in. I love that about it. BMJ


Fiona Russell-Horne Group Managing Editor - BMJ


“


I celebrate


myself, and sing myself,


And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you


Walt Whitman ”


CONTENTS 4 Newsround


What’s happening in the sector 8 News Extra


Showing off reveals from Installer Show 2025


10 BMJ Industry Awards Finalist listings have been revealed 12 People


Who’s moving where, and 10 Minutes With


14 Business Helpdesk What’s concerning BMF Members 15 Viewpoint


Our guest columnists talk procurement and roofing.


18 Merchant Focus


A new look for a flagship merchant branch 20 Timber


Investigating trends in fencing


22 Ironmongery and security Opening up door security 26 Workwear


The hottest clothing for the warmest days 32 Drainage


ADVERTISING


Group Sales Manager: Dawn Tucker 01622 699148 07934 731232 dtucker@datateam.co.uk


Media Account Executive Morgan Borthwick-Hunter mborthwick-hunter@datateam. co.uk


01622 699126


Publisher: Paul Ryder


pryder@datateam.co.uk © Datateam Business Media Ltd 2025


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.


CIRCULATION


ABC audited average circulation


July 2018-June 2019: 7,801 SUBSCRIPTIONS


UK 1 year: £97 UK, 2 years: £164 Outside UK: one year £113/$204; two years: £196/$353


Benefits of clay pipes explored


33 Company Focus Gathering data at the VJT lab


34 BMF Industry voice The latest from the Builders Merchants Federation


36 Product News What’s new from suppliers


38 And Finally News and the Prize Crossword


August 2025 www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net 3


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