INDUSTRY VOICE


Trade bodies monitor construction supplies to iron out demand and production


LEADERS IN THE construction sector are joining forces to ensure confidence in the multi-billion- pound building products supply chain, to meet increasing demand in the re-opening period. The BMF is working with the Construction Products Association (CPA) to monitor the manufacturing and distribution of their respective members, in order to meet the needs of housebuilders, contractors and SME builders.


They are heading up the Product Availability Group, set-up by the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), which is co-ordinating the industry’s response to the Covid- 19 crisis.


The BMF is gaining information from across its membership to identify items likely to be in short supply and take steps to address them.


According to the BMF, early shortfalls in plaster and plasterboard supply were being


flagged-up under the monitoring system, but steps are being taken to resolve that shortfall.


John Newcomb, Chief Executive of the BMF, said: “Currently we are seeing no major issues, apart from plaster and plasterboard, but manufacturing is now scheduled to increase to address this problem.


“As a group, we are meeting every two weeks to keep a watching brief on the situation across the entire construction industry supply chain. “We want to deal with


potential issues in a proactive way, to ensure demand is met across the construction sector.


“Nothing like this has happened before, and the work we are doing is unprecedented. “We can only refer to what happened in the 2008 recession for insight, but realistically that cannot provide any meaningful model for the situation we are in now.


“Fortunately, we can refer to data-driven intelligence from the information we receive, and the collaboration forged within the Construction Leadership Council means that together we can work to address the challenges ahead.” Peter Caplehorn, CPA Chief Executive, said: “The CPA has been closely monitoring the operational status of its members, who are looking for sustainable demand for their products before starting to phase in more factory production, whilst at the same time ensuring the health and well-


being of their workforce. “With the BMF, we are discussing with Government and the wider industry the need to encourage builders and merchants to safely re-open more sites and branches, in addition to continuing support for ‘essential’ activity such as key NHS and infrastructure projects, repair and maintenance.”


The BMF’s five largest merchant members, along with five of the CPA’s largest manufacturing members, are part of the Product Availability Group.


BMF meets financial times political editor


EACH NEW POLITICAL story is bigger than the last, and more difficult to handle, according to George Parker, Political Editor of the “Financial Times”, who we met last month. The 2008 Credit


BMF DIARY DATES


In light of the continuous changes to events due to COVID-19 precautions, please check the BMF website at www. bmf.org.uk for all the latest news and events updates in this ever-changing environment.


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Crunch, the EU Referendum & Brexit, and the Coronavirus pandemic have, in turn, surpassed earlier political stories on a scale not previously faced before. The BMF took part in an invitation-only conference call to hear Mr Parker who drew on 12 years’ experience reporting for the FT in London and Brussels. George Parker told guests that after last December’s


General Election, “getting Brexit done” was supposed to be the main issue. But dealing with coronavirus has re-defined both Boris Johnson’s Government and the Official Opposition under the new Labour Party Leader, Sir Keir Starmer MP.


Coronavirus has also forced an economic re-alignment for the Tories, according to George. The Conservatives appear ready to


accept massive amounts of debt for some time to come. On Labour, he noted that Sir Keir’s courtroom style of questioning in the Commons is in sharp contrast to his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn MP.


George Parker has met the BMF before - most recently at the Lib Dem Party Conference that John Newcomb and Brett Amphlett attended in Bournemouth to lobby MPs and Party Spokesmen.


The BMF welcome the following new members:


www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net June 2020


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