THE MONTH Plumb Center launches a dedicated commercial


plumbing and heating section on its website designed to make life easier for installers


commercial online hub JT Dove Plumb Center has launched


Parliament


Independent North-East builders merchant JT Dove hosted the prospective MP for Northumberland last month to remind her of the importance of builders, plumbers and timber merchants.


Anne-Marie Trevelyan, was shown around the 148-year old pon-Tweed r,,


looking for commercial-grade products and helpful advice. The site, which features


more than 2,500 products and growing, has been launched in response to customers r-


-


asking for more sector-specific products to be all in one place. Customers will be able to benefit from online ordering with fast and stress-free browsing on a computer or smartphone.


Ridgeons celebrates suppliers


Ridgeons’ 10th Annual Supplier of the Yea


Ye r A war ds,


Overall Supplier of the Y The other winners were: Akzo Nobel, hardware & decorating; Ceramic Tiles, lightside; Lignacte Bloks, ber


heavyside; Meyer Timber r,,


timber & sheets; Kevin Edwards - Marshalls & Stonemarket, supplier sales rep; Ecotherm, commercial team. Bob Butler


r,, head of


pur chasing said: “It is fantastic to be able to thank the people we work with by doing these annual awar ds. Everyone at Ridgeons would like to congratulate the winners and we look forwar d to many mor e successful years of working together .”


at Quy Mill in Cambridge, saw Lignacite Blocks awarded e Year.Ye


business’ Berwick-Upon-T branch by imanaging director Steve Robinson, and discussed the importance of merchants in creating local jobs and growth. Robinson explained how


Tw To


the company is investing in its 17-strong branch network. He also raised key issues facing the construction industry including supply


housing demand & supply vocational training and skills (especially apprentices), and the consequences of the vote to leave the European Union.


y,, er, tabletr, Touring the 4-a ouring the 4-acre site,


Trevelyan said: “I was delighted to visit JT Dove here in the constituency and learn of their contribution to not only rural Northumberland’’s prosperity,y, but also the wider North Eastern economy. ”.


s


Robinson is also Regional Chairman of the Builders Merchants’ Federation which


organised the visit and shared with Trevelyan the latest BMF economic data that shows sales across the UK in February were up nearly 8% in total, compared to the same time in 2016. He said: “We want to see the next Government doing more to redress the parity of esteem between academic and vocational training”.


Grafton announces good start to the yearhe yearye conditions in the housing


Grafton Group, the Irish builders and plumbers


merchant group, saw like for like revenue increase by 4.5% in the four months to April 30. Group revenue increased by 7.7 % to £851 million. The traditional UK


reported solid growth in like- for-like revenue. The business benefited from measures to improve profitability including the restructuring plan implemented in the last quarter of 2016.


merchanting businesses r-


Selco saw a good level


of demand in its established branch network. The seven branches that were opened last year traded in line with expectation and market coverage was improved in Greater London with the opening of branches in


Beckton and Crayford. Selco remains on track to open at least ten branches this year. The Netherlands


merchanting business


continued to grow like-for-like revenue against the backdrop of a recovery in the Dutch economy and favourable


ow like-for r-


TG opens new showroom TG Builders’ Merchants has


opened a new kitchen and bathroom showroom at its branch in Oswestry.


General manager Mark


Evans said customers of the TG Dream Kitchens and


Bathrooms showroom could now explore ten full-sized kitchen displays and ten full- sized bathroom displays in the 220 sq m store, which will


employ three full-time stafl-time stafff. “Our aim was to create a showroom that gave


displays, it’’s


customers the opportunity to see some of our products and accessories in a relaxed and realistic setting,” he said. “By creating 20 full-sized s muc


s much easier for


customers to picture our styles in their own homes.”


Evans said the showr oom


market. The acquisition of the 14 branch Gunters en Meuser business in January 2017 has provided a strong presence in the Greater Amsterdam Area and a small single branch business located in the Eastern region of the Netherlands has also been acquired. Like-for-like


r- -like revenue


was lower in the Belgium mer chanting business due to the reorientation of the customer base towards a lower volume, higher margin customer model.


oveve sends merchant messag e to


was already proving extremely popular with customers, with the vast array of displays attracting a lot of attention.


June 2017 BMJ


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