Lords Builders Merchants and Advance Roofing Supplies have opened a new branch on the site of the former Blanchfords branch.
The Colchester branch of builders merchant Kent Blaxill is to close on July 12th, after 187 years in the Essex town.
PHG Plumbing Heating Group announces winners of supplier awards
PHG Plumbing Heating Group, the premier plumbing, heating and bathroom buying group for the UK hosted their Annual Supplier Awards at Carden Park Hotel in Chester at the end of May 2025, to celebrate and recognise excellence in the plumbing, heating and bathroom industry.
The event is one of the largest independent gatherings of plumbing, heating & bathroom suppliers and independent merchants in the industry. Winners included FM Products, winning Plumbing Supplier of the
Year (under £700k), Viva Sanitary, winning Plumbing Supplier of the Year (over £700k), Ideal Heating won Instinct Plumbing & Heating Supplier of the Year, Heating Supplier of the Year (over £1m) and Overall Supplier of the Year, and Wilo, being awarded Heating Supplier of the Year (under £1m)
Jewson reveals new-look Luton plans
Builders merchant Jewson has released a first look at the £4.3m redevelopment of its Luton branch, which will include a 51,800 sq ft shop floor, offering 6,500 SKUs available for immediate collection.
Set to open this Summer, the branch will feature a suite of new services including a cement plant, timber cutting station,
landscaping display, tool hire and repair centres, a paint mixing facility, and even an extended workwear range and fitting room. There will be two drive-in entrances to source undercover timber, five pods for hosting meetings with clients, out-of- hours collection lockers and much more.
The branch will also be home to Jewson’s first-ever Sustainability House – a full-scale mock home showcasing cutting- edge materials from the Building for the Future range. It will serve as a hands-on learning space, guided by an on-site specialist to help customers build in line
Highlife Bathrooms was awarded Bathroom Supplier of the Year (under £1m), Ideal Standard took Bathroom Supplier of the Year (over £1m), And Roper Rhodes was awarded Instinct Bathroom Supplier of the Year, as well as the prestigious Outstanding Achievement Award. Finally, honouring individual achievement, David Bainbridge was awarded Most Engaged Supplier Team Member. A total of 259 guests attended the event, including 196 supplier representatives joined by 63 PHG representatives.
with the latest regulations and environmental standards. Andrew Collinson, Jewson Luton’s new branch director, said: “The branch will act as a vital hub for construction and building projects in the South East, but will also be a blueprint of best practice in merchanting at a national level, too.” Jewson opened its brand-new Croydon branch on Monday 2 June. The site, which spans 142,000 sq ft and represents a £2 million investmen, is a replacement for the Beddington Lane branch. The development means the branch can offer over 1,500 additional SKUs, and a range of other new customer- focussed features.
Travis Perkins welcomes government backing for SME builders
National builders merchant Travis Perkins believes recent Government proposals could save smaller developers both time and money planning rules are streamlined, regulatory burdens eased, and finance is provided to SME builders. The current system makes it difficult for smaller builders to
get spades in the ground – with a small site of ten homes facing the same planning hurdles as one with 100 or more.
The changes will help turn this around, driving up competition across the sector and helping deliver the Plan for Change milestone of 1.5 million homes, so more working families and
June 2025
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net
young people can achieve the dream of homeownership. The proposals include:
Rapid delivery app TradeKart is now operating with Leyland, the London decorators merchant.
Siniat in
In a first for the UK construction sector,
Siniat has
announced it will formally take design responsibility for the system information and standard details it issues, marking a shift in accountability for construction risk and specification.
This move comes at a time when the construction industry is under mounting pressure to address risk, error, and compliance.
According to the Get It Right Initiative (GIRI), errors cost the sector between £10bn and £25bn annually.
Research by Siniat found that 65% of contractors say that the cascading of risk and liability is placing them under financial strain, with some firms having to lay off staff, and 64% say that these issues have even pushed some firms into administration.
By taking full accountability for the standard design details it provides, Siniat is aiming to bring clarity, reduce downstream risk, and support duty holders through the critical Gateway 2 compliance process.
• Faster decisions for small sites • A new ‘medium site’ category • More land and financing options for SMEs • A new pilot to unlock small sites for SMEs
Lee Jackson, Travis Perkins technical director, said: “Smaller construction firms are at the heart of local development, but they’re often the ones most affected by complex planning processes and limited access to finance. These new government measures are a positive step”
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system design responsibility first
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