COMMENT


Here we go again


I


t’s December, boys and girls. So, in the spirit of the season, may I be so bold as to channel that Christmas pantomime favourite – the Bench Scene.


Dame: The pandemic is over, boys and girls. Audience: Oh no it isn’t. Dame: Oh yes, it is.


Audience: (Getting progressively louder) Oh no it isn’t.


Dame: Oh yes, it is. Audience: Oh no it isn’t.


Dame: It is. It is. It is.(Jumping up and down) Audience: It isn’t. It isn’t. It isn’t.(Also jumping up and down)


Dame: It isn’t? Audience: No.


Dame: Well. We’ll have to do it again then, won’t we? Whoop! (Flashes bloomers and petticoats at audience)


It looks like we are doing it all again, or at least some of it. I’m pretty sure that at this time last year I was wittering on about how the incredibly hard work of the super scientists in developing the Covid- 19 vaccines meant that we were at the beginning of the end of the Covid restrictions, rather than the end of the beginning.


What did I know? Turns out, not so much. The dastardly coronavirus has mutated once again, like some evil, alien super-villain, and turned into OmniCron, a variant that a) sounds so much more menacing than plain old Delta, and b) seems to be better at replicating itself in a range of hosts – ie.us. Maybe I should have paid a bit more attention in Biology, but I thought viruses were supposed to get progressively weaker the more they mutated. Having said that, at this stage we don’t know exactly how strong it will be at actually making people ill and the Pfizer boys seem to be pretty sure they


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have got the vaccine cracked. I had my booster jab a week ago and yet we seem to have moved no further forward.


Plan B was implemented last night and, on the face of it, seems to as mixed up in its messaging as everything else has been so far. Stick your mask back on anytime you are anywhere with actual, you know, people, try and stay out of the office and away from public transport by working from home, but you can still have a Christmas party. Huh? Downloading the NHS passport if you want to go to football or the rugby on Boxing Day or dance the night away in a club would be OK if you can get the NHS App to work.


Everywhere you look, people are talking about cancelling their Christmas parties, while pubs and restaurants are seeing the advances they made since the summer eroded with every cancellation. There will be no more lolly coming from Number 11 to cushion any further blows. The furlough scheme has been consigned to the pages of the Edexel GCSE Economics text-book; Dishi Rishi’s exquisitely tailored suit pockets are empty.


Anyone with a vulnerable or elderly relative they are hoping to see at Christmas is wondering whether they should go anywhere at all in the next few days, for fear of catching and transmitting this latest variant. We are, at the moment, still below the horrifying numbers we have seen before. For now. The masks and new restrictions are designed to buy us some time so the scientists’ hard work doesn’t go to waste and so the vaccine programme can carry on.


God. It’s all so damn frustrating. Happy Christmas. See you on the other side.


Fiona Russell-Horne Group Managing Editor - BMJ


It’s like deja vu, all over again


“ Yogi Berra ”


CONTENTS 4 Newsround


News from around the industry.


8 News Extra BMF Conference headed to Harrogate..


14 News Extra Bradfords talks sustainable solutions


17 Viewpoint


Helping customers deal with colder weather.


18 People


Who’s moved where and 10 Minutes With…


20 Business Helpdesk The WEE regulations are changing


22 Merchant Focus Keyline are driving a greener agenda.


24 Timber


Batten business and recycled timber products.


27 BMJ Industry Awards 2021


The winners revealed in our special feature.


51 IT Software system updates.


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53 Sealants Getting back out to see customers again


54 Heavyside Opening up sales opportunities.


56 BMF Industry Voice All the news from the BMF.


58 Product news The latest product developments.


62 And Finally News and the BMJ Prize Crossword.


December 2021 www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net 3


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