NEWS EXTRA: BMF CONFERENCE 2025
THE NATIONAL HOUSEBUILDER’S VIEW Jennie Daly, CBE, CEO of Taylor Wimpey
NATIONAL HOUSEBUILDER TAYLOR Wimpey is in a strong position, with a resilient landbank, and the underlying housing market fundamentals are strong. That’s according to Taylor Wimpey CEO Jennie Daly CBE, who explained that the ‘resilient landbank’ is roughly around seven to eight years’ supply at the current output levels.
“We have been preparing the business for growth including a focus on operational excellence and a secure supply chain,” she said.
Daly added that the group is fully expecting the new National
Planning Policy Framework implemented by the new Labour Government to boost opportunities for further land acquisition. “2025 is likely to be a transitional year in the land market, with significant demand still outweighing supply in many areas,” she said.
In the short term, the positive drivers include a supportive mortgage lending backdrop, low unemployment levels and mortgage costs, which for those able to get a large deposit together, are lower than rental costs. Looking further ahead, medium term drivers for growth are the continuing strong desire
mean further pressures on costs. “Operational excellence is now part of the business culture of the group,” she continued. “We are working closely with our suppliers to better forecast and mitigate pinch points on supply, and we keep up a continuous scrutiny and management of costs including with our Value Improvement Programme.”
for home ownership, a strong structural underlying demand, underpinned by population growth.
Changes are coming; however, Daly added, most notably the Building Safety Act, amendments to Building Regulations to cover Biodiversity Net Gain, Nutrient and Water Neutrality as well as the Future Homes Standard. These changes, she said, will
Daly said that the group is also working closely with key subcontractors to ensure that they are all aligned with the same priorities.
“In conclusion, we have been preparing the business for growth including a focus on operational excellence and a secure supply chain,” she said. “Taylor Wimpey is ready to deliver sustained growth, in partnership with our supply chain.”. BMJ
THE INDEPENDENT’S VIEW Joe Tipper, director of Tippers, an independent family-owned builders merchants based in Lichfield, Staffordshire
IT’S IMPORTANT TO look at the sector as a whole, Joe Tipper, director of Tippers told the Conference. “The industry is not Tippers, it’s not Stark (Building Materials UK), it’s not the traditional merchants, it’s not the new, emerging companies. It’s everyone in this room,” he said. The family-owned, and run, independent employs 290 people, and has been slowly expanding over the past 10 years, which includes the purchase of three branches from fellow independent BPS at the end of last year. It’s vital that everyone
understands what the business is about, he explained. “The business has to make money. Knowing that that is why we do it is really important.
It’s a family business, it’s personal, it matters to us. It’s our business, it’s our industry. We have learned the business from the ground up, and that matters, it makes us different,” he said. In order to make sure that everyone in the company is on the same page, the company has a strong ethos that runs through everything it does. “We call it
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regard to the environment,” he said. “That’s why we have been using 100% electric forklifts for years, we have solar panels on the branches’ roofs, and every company vehicle is an electric one.”
the Tippers Way. If everyone in the business encapsulates the way we do business, that’s how we get those 1% incremental improvements in performance that we all know are so important.” It’s about being better at what you do in your own right, not about beating up the competition, Tipper continued. “Competition is good. It helps us to work out how we do things better. It helps us to get more out of the market, to grow the whole market, for us and everybody else. We want a bigger market in five years’ time; we want a bigger market in 10 years’ time.”
Making money, building profits for the business have to be achieved in tandem with other things. “We want to create profit responsibly, and sustainably with
Giving back to the wider community is also a big part of the Tippers way, he said. “We want to do things that make our employees lives a bit better. That might be by supporting their local community - sponsoring the local football club, the local rugby club, the cricket club. It might be by providing some sort of medical check-up for them, or offering a way for them to get cheaper family holidays.
“This isn’t difficult, it’s not rocket science. If you do things for people, they will want to work for you and with you. When you get certain things in balance: profit, people and the planet it is sustainable on social, business and macro levels. When you get them out of kilter, when you put profit and price above all else, it’s not sustainable.”
Tipper pointed out that the merchant sector isn’t really one
for get-rich quick opportunities. “We are in a mature industry, we have to be in it for the long term, yet too many people have come in in the last few years looking for short term gains, with the result that more than £1bn of capital has flowed out from our industry.” He then called out the
government for its changes with Inheritance Tax, and the removal of Business Property Tax Relief. “We are the custodians of our business, of the future of our sector, and we know that if we are to continue to develop this business, we need to be better. “We need stability, and we need a government that will encourage us to continue to invest and develop our independent business. What this government is doing by cutting out the Business Property Tax relief is a major discourager of investment in family firms,”he said. “It is a major disincentive to family firms to continue to develop in order to be able to pass on the business to future generations, developing and providing employment for local people, now and in the future.” BMJ
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net July 2025
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