COMMENT


Best foot forward for 2023


C


ards on the table: numbers don’t really speak to me. Not in the same way words do. That said, I did manage a perfectly respectable grade B at O level, and I am quite keen on economics as a subject where it informs my political geekery. I can get on with numbers sufficiently well to allow me to add-up a round at the bar, work out my score at a card-game, and conduct my day-to-day life without ending up destitute, though there are still occasionally some months where the money runs out before the month does. January, I’m looking at you.


I can read the top few lines of a P&L sheet, but after that, I’m afraid, it does turn into gobbledegook. This is a rather long-winded explanation of why the League Tables in this month’s issue are always the bane of my life. This year more so than ever. Working my way through the lists of the top 52 UK builders’ merchants – apologies if we’ve missed anyone out – has, this year been a minefield of who now owns whom.


It’s really not been helped by the fact that 2021, the year we have the most information for, was chock-full of sell-offs, takeovers and mergers. CRS, RGB, Buildbase, City Plumbing Supplies…the list is pretty extensive. Some of the results still include the discontinued operations, others don’t. I’ve tried to explain things in the footnotes, but there may be some anomalies that have crept in. For which, mea culpa.


In any case, I’m not so big-headed as to think that anyone will ever take these League Tables as gospel. They are merely our best estimate for who sits where in the merchanting pecking order, and we use what information we have available, most of which is in the public domain anyway. Trailblazers, the other bane of my life, which will follow in April, is a slightly different matter because that is compiled with the help of someone to whom numbers do speak. Even so, we have to use our best experience and knowledge to


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 Anjali Sooknanan 01622 699106


asooknanan@datateam.co.uk


Production Controller: Nic Mandeville


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


Publisher: Paul Ryder


pryder@datateam.co.uk 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


work out what those changing numbers actually mean in the real world.


2021 was the year that saw the industry start to recover slowly from the effects of the Covid pandemic. Some of those effects were good ones – many suppliers, merchants and builders had never been so busy. Some of those effects were more troublesome – the supply shortages, the labour shortages, the fuel and transport issues. Having dealt with all those issues, the time was ripe, in January 2022 for the world to step out from under the shadow of Covid and get back to normal. Obviously, that hasn’t happened. Or, to put it another way, normal now is not what we thought it would be back then. The cost-of-living crisis, the escalation of fuel prices, the train strikes, the postal strikes, the ongoing war in Ukraine, the crumbling NHS, are not what we signed up for. None of this is conducive to encouraging confidence amongst consumers and home-owners to carry on spending on and investing in their homes. The latest construction PMI is showing the biggest fall in activity for months, something that’s probably going to continue for a while at least. That said, a look at the League Tables shows that the industry has a solid base from which to continue. As does the independent sector. Our annual collaboration with NBG which accompanies this issue shows that the buying group and its Partners and Suppliers is as focussed as ever on the benefits to be had from working together to build a better future. Net zero targets, the phasing out of gas boilers, our increasing population and our crumbling infrastructure means that there is still plenty of potential out there for business for merchants and suppliers if they can work out the best way of getting at it. BMJ


Fiona Russell-Horne Group Managing Editor - BMJ


© Datateam Business Media Ltd 2023


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.


We are all of us in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. Oscar Wilde


“ ” CONTENTS


4 Newsround The latest news


8 News Extra


Home buyers will pay a premium for low carbon homes, according to research


10 People


Who’s moved where and 10 minutes with…


11 Business Helpdesk The BMF has advice on supporting your staff


12 BMJ Industry Awards This year’s awards open for entry next month.


14 Viewpoint Looking back, looking forward and at a digital future


18 League Tables A quick guide to who sits where in the pecking order


20 Merchant Focus Welsh action on the net zero agenda


22 Roofing


How fire-proof are the roofing materials you are importing?


24 Sustainability Reducing carbon emissions remains a priority


26 Transport & Materials Handling


Investing in reducing the emissions of the fleet


28 Workwear


New year, new gear: the latest work attire


30 BMF Industry Voice The news and views from the BMF


32 And Finally


News and the BMJ Prize Crossword


SUPPLEMENT


National Buying Group remains committed to building strong brands for and with its Partners and Suppliers as our special supplement shows.


January 2023 www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net 3


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