INDUSTRY VOICE
BMF takes construction minister on fact-finding visit to Lords BM
With continuing industry uncertainty around product availability and rising energy prices, the Construction Minister, Lee Rowley MP, undertook a timely fact-finding visit to Lords Builders Merchants in Park Royal, West London to understand the merchants’ role in the supply chain. Discussions undertaken during the tour, which was arranged by the Builders Merchants Federation, highlighted the challenges facing builders’ merchants, as well as initiatives Lords Builders Merchants are undertaking to reduce their carbon footprint and support their staff as well as their customers. Jamie Herd, Managing Director of Lords Builders Merchants said: “We have worked extremely hard
over the last two years to maintain stock levels and pricing for our customer base. However, the disruption in the supply chain, lack of HGV drivers and price inflation continue to have a significant impact on merchanting across the board. I was pleased to be able to outline the extent of these issues and the measures we have put in place to support our customers.
Latest rural housing figures
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs has released its latest Rural England Statistics - and there is encouraging news for BMF members. More new homes were added in rural districts than in urban districts. The figures show a return to levels last seen prior to the 2008 ‘Credit Crunch’ and subsequent recession. The BMF has studied the figures for net additional dwellings for year 2019-2020 in England. Comparisons are made based on the number of households in each district. In rural districts, there were 63,700 net new rural homes arising from either new build, conversions or change of use - which is 12.2 per 1,000 households - compared to 153,600 net new urban homes - which is 9.8 per 1,000 households.
The spilt amongst the additional rural homes is:
• newly-built homes = 91% of the 63,700 • homes gained from change of use = 8% • with the remaining 1% being conversions. We hope this continues. It is worth noting that in 2011, we reported on figures from Hometrack (residential property market analysts) that showed only 12% of all homes being built in England were in rural areas.
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“We were also proud to share details of the work we are doing in partnership with fellow BMF members Bradfords and Markovitz to develop an ESG framework that can be used by the wider industry. These include trialling renewable diesel HVO in our vehicles, moving to lithium batteries in our forklifts and the use of solar panels as we refurbish branches.
“We have launched a company- wide ‘Mind Kind’ initiative, with 24 staff now trained as mental health first aiders to support staff that may be dealing with poor mental health.”
The visit was organised as part of the BMF’s industry and parliament engagement programme to highlight the vital role merchants
play within the supply chain to keep Britain building.
John Newcomb, CEO of the BMF, gave the Construction Minister an overview of how its members perform an essential function in distributing construction materials and home improvement products across the UK. He also explained how the industry is actively embracing a more sustainable focus.
Mr Newcomb, who also co- chairs the Construction Leadership Council’s Product Availability Group, said: “Faced with the challenges of the past two years, the construction supply chain has adopted a flexible approach to finding solutions. Low or zero-carbon products will be crucial in the construction and home improvement industries to drive down emissions. We were able to demonstrate that the building supply chain is the most efficient route to market for these products.”
BMF branch operating guidelines updated in response to Omicron
In response to the Omicron variant, the BMF has republished its Branch Operating Guidelines to provide up to date guidance for the safe operation of builders’ merchants in England during Covid 19. Separate regulations and guidance remain in place for those in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The BMF Branch Operating Guidelines Version 6 (England only) incorporates the following key changes: • A revised introduction to recognise that working with COVID-19 is now ‘business as usual’ for the industry • Appropriate language to reflect the current situation on site, for example ‘managing’ rather than ‘restricting’ numbers of workers
• Removing out of date references to when to go to work, shielding etc. Publication of the latest BMF guidelines coincides with the release of updated Site Operating Procedures by the Construction Leadership Council.
BMF CEO, John Newcomb said: “With government guidance changing for England, the latest Branch Operating Guidance will help merchants remain in step and continue to ensure the safety of colleagues and customers.”
BMF members have also been provided with Build UK’s COVID‐19 flowchart, updated in line with the
latest rules on self‐isolation. Anyone who is asymptomatic and receives a positive lateral flow test in England is now no longer required to take a confirmatory PCR test.
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net February 2022
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