COMMENT Material factors A


year ago, as the UK emerged, blinking into the sunshine of the first post-lockdown landscape, the Prime Minister promised that the country would build its way back to prosperity. That was music to the ears of the construction industry of course.


Boris made his Build Build Build speech in Dudley, heart of the West Midlands. “This moment gives us a much greater chance to be radical and to do things differently,” he said. “To build back better. To build back bolder.” He went on to promise: “We will build the hospitals, build the schools and the colleges. We will also build back greener and build a more beautiful Britain. We will build better and build greener but we will also build faster.” Hurrah. All exactly the sort of thing that the construction industry needed to hear. And so, the construction boom began. Even when we had to go into a second and third lockdown, the construction industry kept going, fuelled by the RMI sector, the stamp duty holiday, the need for garden offices and goodness knows what else.


Now though, we seem to have hit a snag. Building back better is a great ambition but it can only happen if you can get hold of the materials, and if those materials haven’t become so expensive that they bust the budget.


The latest BMBI report shows some quite astonishing levels of recovery; many merchants are reporting sales increasing up to 40%. Not 40% on lockdown levels, but on pre-Covid levels. Frank Elkins of Travis Perkins told Construction News this week that 4 out of 10 branches were struggling to get the cement their customers have ordered. I was in B&Q yesterday (I know, I know. But it’s right next door to Aldi and just so convenient) and overheard a man asking when they would get their next cement delivery in, to be met with shrugged shoulders. Of course anything that’s in short supply but high demand also tends to cost more, that’s Economics 101. Joe Beale of Frank Key was on BBC Radio Derby talking about shortages. When he mentioned the rise


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in shipping container costs from £2,500 to £12,500, the interviewer had to get him to repeat the figures as he didn’t believe what he was hearing. Manufacturers have been trying to look at additional product lines and how to raise the efficiency of their existing lines, which is great. However, factories can’t keep going indefinitely, they need maintenance and down-time, and because of Covid, working hours have had to change, shift patterns altered, workers were isolating or furloughed, having to home school. All of which meant that the supply chains that normally run smoothly through the UK have been disrupted. How long it will take for things to rebalance themselves is anyone’s guess.


Construction has been one of the stalwarts of the economy through the pandemic but some of the issues we are seeing now with materials supply were already bubbling away under the surface. Timber, for example, was already struggling before the pandemic, thanks to production problems and a warmer than expected Scandinavian winter. The floods in Texas have impacted global supply of some materials, and goodness knows how much stuff is still trying to get through after the Suez Canal was blocked by that container ship. In an increasingly global marketplace, what happens elsewhere has ramifications here, no matter how good our own manufacturing base tries to be.


Take cement. The majority of what we use in this country is made here. But unless it’s readymix, cement doesn’t arrive on site or in the merchant yard loose. It requires packaging and the global shortage of plastics and supply issues with paper is one of the things that is preventing my little B&Q man among others getting what they need when they need it. The danger is that all this will act as a brake on the recovery, a brake that this industry really, seriously does not need. BMJ


Fiona Russell-Horne Group Managing Editor - BMJ


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“


All I ask is a tall ship; And a star to steer her by,


John Masefield ”


CONTENTS 4 Newsround


News from around the industry 8 News Extra


Is recycled brick the way forward for the planet?


10 People


Who’s moved where and 10 Minutes With…


12 Business Helpdesk The BMF is committed to training and development


14 Viewpoint


BMJ columnists look at safety, sustainability and the Covid-jab.


20 Merchant Focus Grant & Stone has bought CRS, RGB, BuildIt and Total Plumbing Supplies so far this year.


23 BMJ Industry Awards


The event of the year. 24 Timber


Stock issues -is there any?


28 Insulation Trends, developments and efficiency.


34 IT


Award-winning investments and stock management.


38 Transport & Logistics


Investment continues apace.


40 BMF Industry Voice News and views from the BMF.


42 Product news The latest product developments from suppliers


46 And Finally News and the BMJ Prize Crossword


June 2021 www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net 3


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