COMMENT
Reclaim the night...and the early mornings
I
m going to do something this month that I’m usually slightly loathe to do. And that’s repeat something – or at least re-work it - from one of the weekly blog pieces I write for our website and newsletter. Which means that many of you will already have read my thoughts on it. That said, I know there are plenty of readers whose interaction with BMJ is solely via the printed or digital publication, rather than the blogs and newsletter. And what I am writing about here is, I believe, too important an issue to not be given a wider audience. Practically every event I have been to this year, whether an awards lunch, a conference, a seminar, has hammered home the need to open up our industry to new, younger, fresher faces. To improve diversity in the sector, and bring in more women, more people from a variety of backgrounds, ethnic and social. We need to bring in new experiences and skills, honed outside the traditional environs of the merchanting world. By doing so, we will have a sector that better reflects the communities it serves.
The same events talking about the need to expand our appeal, also mention research that highlights how many people don’t feel that construction is a good place for females to work. That we need to make workplaces in this sector welcoming and safe spaces for people who, looking at it from the outside, might be slightly put off by the whole ‘construction’ and ‘building’ angles. All well and good. However, work is only a small part of what we do in our lives.. What about safe spaces outside of the workplace? Merchanting is a business which opens early. Builders need to be on-site early in the morning; therefore they collect their materials early in the morning. Which means merchants - those businesses we want to encourage young people, especially young women, to join - starting work in the dark for much of the year.
I went on a Reclaim the Night march last month, to mark both the UN International Day Against
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EDITORIAL
Group Managing Editor: Fiona Russell Horne 01622 699101 07721 841382
frussell-horne@datateam.co.uk
Assistant editor Will McGill 01622 699185
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Violence Against Women and Girls, and to celebrate the passing into law of a Private Members Bill by my local MP, Greg Clark.
The Protection Against Sex-Based Harassment in Public Act 2023 makes it a crime to sexually harass someone in a public place. Just as shouting racial abuse in the street has long been considered not only unacceptable, but also criminal. It has been illegal to sexually harass someone at work for some time, but, until now, there has been no specific criminal offence of deliberately harassing someone in public, even though it might be termed just ‘banter’, but which is intended to cause distress, humiliation or even actual harm.
Every woman I know has a tale to tell of being followed, shouted at in the street, or made to feel uncomfortable walking home. We all know to avoid certain roads or paths after dark, and to walk home with our keys in our hands.
Our streets should be safe, not just for women, but for everyone, for young boys, for young men, for anyone who’s just a bit different. Anyone who may well find themselves in a situation, not of their making, where they are, at best made to feel uncomfortable or threatened, and at worst, well, you only have to look at the news every week to know what ‘at worst’ constitutes.
How many unnecessary planet-killing car journeys are made because it’s safer to drive than to walk the short journey after dark? It’s not as though public transport is exactly reliable. And I speak as the parent of teens who are regularly stranded because the bus hasn’t turned up. If we truly want to make our industry representative, inclusive and diverse, let’s ensure that the merchanting workplace is a safe and welcoming place for people. Let’s also make the space outside work safe too. #Reclaimthenight
Fiona Russell-Horne Group Managing Editor - BMJ
“
We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light the candle that can guide us thru that darkness to a safe and sane future
John F Kennedy
CONTENTS 4 Newsround
The news from around the industry. 8 News Extra
Tradesupplies.com: the new normal in building supplies.
10 People Who’s moved where, and 10 minutes with…
12 Meet the future Jewson’s Chloe Bright, winner of BMJ’s Maddie Rose National Rising Star Award.
14 Business Helpdesk How to build a trusted brand from Trustpilot.
15 Business Focus
NMBS’s Dean Hayward shares his thoughts after 20 years in the industry.
16 Merchant Focus Manningham Concrete speaks about its history and its future.
18 Viewpoint
Our regular and guest columnists. 22 Timber
The new housing agenda and timber 25 IT
E.Tupling shares how technology has given it the edge over its competitors.
26 Ironmongery
Smart technology and fire safety combine in the latest developments.
29 Adhesives and Sealants From solventless sealants to moving forward after a testing few years.
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Publisher: Paul Ryder
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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
32 BMF Industry Voice The BMF’s own pages.
34 Product of the year Some of the top products from 2023, picked out by the team.
36 Product News
Latest products and developments from suppliers.
38 And Finally News and the Prize Crossword.
December 2023
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net 3 ”
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