INDUSTRY VOICE
Keynote Speakers for BMF All Industry Conference
Ellis Watson is the latest speaker confirmed for the 2025 BMF All Industry Conference in June. In his varied executive career, he has turned-around, rebranded, overhauled, reinvigorated and expanded global businesses from entertainment to transport. Ellis joins recently announced key speakers including racing driver, and Lewis Hamilton’s brother, Nic Hamilton who overcame cerebral palsy to race in the British Touring Car Championship and also Joe Tipper, Director at Tippers Builders Merchants, who will join the Industry Panel at the Conference. Previously announced speakers at the event include Labour Party stalwart, and now life peer, Harriet Harman and John Carter, STARK CEO.
formats, including X-Factor, to international success. Later, as Chief Business Advisor to the First Minister of Scotland he helped shape the government’s strategy for the private sector.
Nic Hamilton
As CEO of TV producer Celador International, Ellis took Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? to over 100 countries. He led distribution and logistics business John Menzies before joining the board of FirstGroup to turn-around the fortunes of iconic transport behemoths like Greyhound across the Americas.
As global CEO of Simon Cowell’s Syco Corporation, he took an array of record labels and programme
Banning the sale of Peat
The BMF is aware of a likely government ban on the retail sale of horticultural peat. We are unsure to what extent merchants still stock and sell peat products. The policy position as we understand it is as follows.
In 2022, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs held a consultation on ending the retail sale of peat in horticulture. 95% of the 5000 respondents supported a ban. In response, the government committed to ban the sale of peat by 2024 - although that did not happen.
The Horticultural Trades Association, that represents garden centres, nurseries and landscapers, report that DEFRA has indicated a potential ban by 2026 for professional growers. That information can be found here:
https://hta.org.uk/peat. The HTA’s position statement from August 2022 is also useful:
https://hta.org.uk/news/hta-response- to-defra-announcement-on-horticultural-peat. Separately, a Lib Dem MP has put forward proposals to the House of Commons to pass a new law to end such sales by the end of 2025, with certain exemptions. However, these proposals are not yet law and may not be passed by MPs.
In summary, there is currently no ban on buying & selling peat - but indications suggest that a ban is likely in 2-3 years’ time. This topic may feature at a future meeting of the BMF Bricks, Blocks & Landscaping Forum.
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Ellis challenges, motivates, and advises with an original insight, enthusiasm, frankness and humour that is rare amongst senior business figures. Whether it’s the wrecking-ball nature of digital or shifts in the economic environment, he argues that external shocks and disruption should be a springboard for positive change.
BMF CEO John Newcomb said: “There is only a handful of people who have been asked to do multiple TED Talks and Ellis is one of them. He is known as one of the most inspiring, intelligent
Above: Ellis Watson
and entertaining speakers around. I can’t wait to hear him at our Conference in June.” The 2025 BMF All Industry Conference is fully booked. For merchants or suppliers that haven’t secured a place, the BMF has opened a waiting list for the event. Please email June.Upton@
bmf.org.uk to be added to the waiting list.
The BMF thanks headline sponsor, ACO, and key sponsors BMN, Breedon, Intact, Kerridge Commercial Systems, Knauf, Knauf Insulation, Marsh, Polypipe, Unilin and Velux.
For more details, please visit
www.bmfconference2025.
co.uk
New depot charging guide for E-HGVs
There is a new guide on depot charging of e-HGVs published by the Institution of Engineering and Technology. The free guide covers the fundamentals, technical issues and financial considerations. It provides a broad overview of the latest e-HGV products, along with key operational requirements and terminology. These insights help you understand the basic principles to integrate e-HGVs effectively into your operations. The guide addresses technical aspects, such as depot charging and journey charging. It also explores commercial models, including charging as a service versus asset ownership, plus practical challenges of payload limitations, depot space constraints, and staff capabilities.
Each BMF member’s needs are different and this guide considers vehicle purchase, charging infrastructure, and maintenance. It covers various business models and ownership options, such as leasing or outright purchase. The IET, with Logistics UK and others, has developed this guide to help employers looking to adopt e-HGV charging and operate e-HGV fleets. The topic is likely to feature at the next BMF Transport Forum, chaired by Alan Harvey of Harlow Timber. Download the guide here: https://
electrical.theiet.org/guidance- and-codes-of-practice/ publications-by-category/ electric-vehicles/guide-to- depot-charging-of-electric- heavy-goods-vehicles/.
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net February 2025
BMF DIARY DATES
Please check the BMF website at
www.bmf.org.uk for all the latest news and events updates in this ever-changing environment.
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