NEWSROUND
Stark move for Jewson as Saint Gobain quits UK merchant sector
French building materials conglomerate Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA has sold its merchanting brands in the U.K. to Stark Group AS for 740 million pounds ($907.4 million). Stark Group is headquartered in Denmark, with operations in six countries in Northern Europe.
Daikin opens further
merchants
Following its successful collaboration with Welsh merchant Robert Price, air-source heat pump manufacturer Daikin has set-up further Sustainable Energy Centres with builders’ merchants, heating specialists and energy companies across the UK to create walk-in locations for homeowners and their builders to get to grips with the benefits of renewable heating solutions.
New Sustainable Home Centres have opened with Richmonds Plumbing and Heating Merchants in Glasgow and Duftons Plumbing and Heating Supplies in Harrogate. The new centres invited homeowners, installers, housing associations and government representatives to celebrate their openings and recognise the important role they can play in driving the adoption of renewable heating systems.
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The assets including Jewson, Jewson Partnership Solutions, Build Aviator, the Local Merchant Group brands including Gibbs & Dandy, JP Corry and Normans, Jewson Civils Frazer, George Boyd and International Timber, are expected to generate revenue of roughly EUR2.7 billion this
year, with an operating margin of around 2%.
The distribution business comprises 600 outlets and employs some 8,900 people. Saint-Gobain will no longer have any distribution businesses in the U.K. following the divestment. The transaction should be
sustainability centres with
Glenigan reports on staggering construction inflation Glenigan has released its 2022
Construction Performance Review which shows a staggering inflation in construction materials costs, which had been gathering momentum since January 2021 to peak at a massive 26.8% in Q.2 2022.
Whilst currently figures have settled at around 15%, ongoing international geopolitical events and domestic socioeconomic disruption indicates market volatility and, possibly, another inflation spike in the first half of 2023.
Energy intensive products were hit hardest, with the price of aggregates and insulation rising
an eye-watering 53% and 32% respectively. More barriers to imports post-Brexit and rocketing power prices can be seen as the key reasons for these dramatic rises, and will put considerable pressure on contractors already working to extremely tight margins.
The construction sector also felt the pinch in terms of labour supply, which intensified over the course of 2022. Alongside legacy issues, such as a shallow recruitment pool and a greying workforce, Brexit and the Pandemic has resulted in less ready access to EU workers. Despite material and labour
Wolseley Infrastructure invests in new Chesterfield site
Wolseley
Infrastructure’s Fusion Utilities brand is opening a new 160,000-square foot facility in Bolsover, near Chesterfield, just off the M1.
The new Wolseley Infrastructure site will house a wide variety of best-in-class Utilities products
which will allow the brand to provide better availability than ever to customers.
The new site will be used as a fulfilment centre to
deliver stock directly to customers on-time and in-full nationally, as well as providing services such as
completed in the first quarter of 2023.
Saint-Gobain has been divesting itself of specialist distribution brands in the United Kingdom over the last 18 months. The acquisition is STARK Group’s largest acquisition to date.
pressures, output actually rose in 2022 by 6% compared to the previous year. Most significant was a 52% leap in industrial new build and 11% registered for private residential new build activity.
However, tempering any optimism for a speedy recovery, a drop in the number of projects starting on site last year points to a weakening in construction output in 2023.
2022 saw a significant
slowdown in projects progressing to work on site, as contractors and clients have reappraised the design and cost of build, largely prompted by price inflation and regulatory changes. For example, many housing developers pushed back start dates in Q.3 2022, following the introduction of Part L of the Building Code.
Hire & Servicing and housing our Technical Services, National Sales Office and Design Teams. Located just off the M1 in Bolsover for easy driver access, the new site is due to be ready in April 2024.
John Hancock, managing director at Wolseley UK, said: “We believe that the new Chesterfield site will build upon our product and service offerings to provide our customers with an even easier, more streamlined way to meet their Utilities needs.”
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net January 2023
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