COMMENT Modern Family “ F


amily: noun: a group of people related either by birth, marriage or other relationship. The purpose of the family is to maintain the well- being of its members and of society.


The word Family, these days, is used to mean so much more than the people you grew up with. We all have different definitions of the term, and different groups that we call our families. There’s family-family, friends-family, work- family, sport-team-family, buying-group family, school-family, blended-family…you name it. Whenever we feel a real connection with the people around us, the modern parlance is to call that a family.


So, it came as no surprise, when I was talking to Martin Stables, CEO of builders’ merchant IBMG, and Nick Oates, managing director of independent buying group NBG, about their mutual decision to uncouple and go their separate ways, that both used the word family.


In every family there has to be an element of mutual respect; that both these parties have huge respect for each other is abundantly clear. So that’s a tick in that box. In every family there has to be an element of moving in the same direction, of wanting the same things; improving business by buying better has clearly been a mutual goal for both parties. Another tick there then. In every family, there is also an element of compromise, when the different elements require different things, but agree on a course of action or decisions that may suit one party better than another. That is the very essence of buying group negotiations, surely. So, a tick in that box too. However, sometimes the directions, requirements and feelings of the family members differ to the extent that a suitable compromise isn’t possible. When you have a seat at two different tables – NBG and IBMG, as Stables does, you have two families whose interests you have to look after.


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At some point, decisions you make at one table may well conflict with your obligations to the family at the other table.


Equally, from Oates’ point of view, he is pater familias, if you like, to a huge number of people, all of whom have their own business-family’s interests to look after, as well as the wider group’s. Family dynamics really don’t work well when you favour one member or set of members over another too many times.


So, there was always going to be a break-up, NBG knew it, IBMG knew it and the suppliers knew it. Had all the various elements of IBMG – Parkers, RGB, Grant & Stone etc – been acquired by Saint-Gobain, or Travis Perkins, or even Huws Gray, the split would have come far sooner. How much better, though, to be able to part on such good terms, maintaining the mutual respect and affection for each other that NBG Partners have long prided themselves on. In other words, better a divorce now, while the individual parties can still be friends and sit round the Christmas (aka CPA Lunch/BMJ Industry Awards) tables convivially, surely?


And now I think I have stretched that family analogy as far as it can go in this instance. Possibly further than it should. So, suffice to say, that one of the exciting things about this industry has always been the pace of change, the way that things get mixed up and sorted out, re-born and developed, evolving into something new. It happened with the big national buy-up programme of the 1990s and early 2000s, it’s happening now that private equity has spotted the growth potential of the sector. It’ll keep changing, it’s that sort of industry. It’s that sort of family. BMJ


Fiona Russell-Horne Group Managing Editor - BMJ


CONTENTS 4 Newsround


A round-up of some of the most recent events in the industry


8 News Extra A report from the BMF’s Parliamentary Reception


10Business Helpdesk Energy efficiency is big news for merchants. The BMF has some advice


12 People


Who’s gone where and 10 Minutes with…


13 Business Focus What happens if you find out someone has lied on their CV?


14 Viewpoint


Industry talking heads have their say


20 Roofing


Trends and developments in roofing


24 Insulation


A look at the developments in stone wool insulation


26 Heavyside


What’s going on with the heavy side of the sector?


28 Merchant Focus We sent our spies to the FEST Conference to see what went on


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The hottest thing in plumbing sales


30 BMF Industry Voice The latest news from the BMF


32 Product news New products and developments from suppliers


34 And Finally


The lighter side of the news and the Prize Crossword


November 2022 www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net 3


A sudden bold and unexpected question doth many times surprise a man and lay him open.


Francis Bacon


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