COMMENT


Hi ho, hi ho, it’s back to work we go


I


t will have come as no surprise that the headline figure on the monthly Purchasing Manager’s Index for construction was at 8.2 - it might as well have been zero - for the month of April. With building sites and merchants closed pretty much from the outset, there was never going to be much work done. However, many sites and merchants re-opened quickly, those merchants lucky enough to be able to keep to distancing guidelines in their yards and trade counters carried on. A couple I spoke to said they’d had record months. Presumably, picking up business from other merchants who have had to stay closed. Whether they can service their customers with everything that’s required is another matter. It turns out flour isn’t the only fine, white powder that’s in short supply. I’ve seen bags of Multi-Finish for sale on eBay for two and three times their book price. A friend of mine is a builder. A sole trader, he was in the middle of a three month subbing job for a slightly larger concern when all this lock down was introduced. The only job my friend says he has in his diary other than working for them is due to start in July. It’s a reasonable sized job and will keep him busy for a while. But that job needs other work doing before he goes in. So everything gets put back.


The subbing job is also delayed because the bigger building firm can’t get hold of specialist materials like fire doors from their normal suppliers and, of course, plaster is unavailable at the moment. At the moment, my friend can claim 80% of is average earnings under the furlough scheme so he does have money coming in. What is worrying him is how his customers will react moving forwards. Most of us, if we’re honest, are not that comfortable having tradesmen in our homes at the best of times. How many people are going to be happy with having


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Builders Merchants Journal Datateam Business Media London Road Maidstone Kent ME15 8LY Tel: 01622 687031 www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net


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builders and other tradesmen in their homes at the moment? It’s not easy keeping a 2metre distance if a house has, say, two adults working from home and a few children running around.


Do you disinfect everything that might have been touched during the working day when the builders have gone? Or wear a facemask for the duration of the job - just in case? Do you have to check what your tradesmen’s own home-life is like before you grant them access? If my builder is married to a frontline NHS worker, should I be letting him in my house - that’s the sort of question that is concerning people and it’s what could stop that part of the industry from getting back on its feet.


My friend pointed out that he still has his van loan to cover and other business expenses that don’t go away, never mind the need to feed and house his family. He’s spent the last few years building up his business and an amazing reputation - he really is very good indeed. However, if he can’t get any work because no one is prepared to have a builder in the house whist we are still in the throes of the coronavirus, then that might be the end of his business. He could end up being a Yodel driver for half the money


My mate and his colleagues run the sort of businesses that are the backbone of the RMI market and the core customer of pretty much every builders, plumbers, decorators and timber branch. Their stock- in-trade is extensions, refurbishments, new bathrooms, new kitchens, their advertising he grapevine. Consumer confidence is everything in this game and without it, things will take much longer to get back to normal. Whatever that turns out to be.


Fiona Russell-Horne Editor-in-Chief - BMJ


CONTENTS


4 The Month: The latest from around the industry 6 News Extra:


The furlough scheme explained, plus, what happens if the pandemic means you can’t fulfil a contract?


10 Business Helpdesk: Help is available for businesses coping with the pandemic


11 People: 10 minutes with and who’s moved where


12 BMJ Industry Awards:: the finalists revealed


13 Viewpoint: On keeping going through the pandemic and cladding in the Grenfell aftermath


16 Merchant Focus: Graham the Plumbers Merchant has put forward two of its brightest prospects


Showers and Kitchens: Lightside trends and developments


25 Sustainability: How Hanson are making sure cement is suitable for the future


27 Timber: How best to protect your timber investment


28 BMF Industry Voice: The latest from the Builders Merchants Federation


30 Product News: The latest product launches


34 And Finally: Out and about in the industry, plus the crossword.


May 2020 www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net 3 19 Bathrooms, “


It is the working man who is the happy man, the idle man who is the miserable man.


Benjamin Franklin ”


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