COMMENT
Teamwork makes the dream work
N
o matter how many times we say it, it never stops being true: this industry is all about its people. And it is full of people who demonstrate an incredible amount of commitment. Commitment to customer service, commitment to the team, commitment to the job, commitment to doing the very best you can at the job you’ve been given, commitment to each other. I say it so often that it’s becoming a cliché, but this industry really does feel like a family at times. Sure, as with all families there are people whose ability to irritate the hell out of you is at Olympic level, but there are also those ‘family’ members who will undertake an eight hour round trip just to support someone on a day they really need it (you know who you are). We saw during the Covid pandemic and lockdowns, that there are people across this industry who will go above and beyond to make sure that their customers, employees and staff got the stock they needed, or put measures in place to ensure they got what they needed to carry on, work from home, look after family members and keep their businesses going.
In the last two months, I’ve been to three awards ceremonies which, while some of the awards were presented to individuals, served to emphasise just how much the merchant family works together for the benefit of the whole. One person can’t turn a merchant chain into the best in their local area, or make them the most sustainable in their line of business, or make their marketing initiatives the winners. One person can be a figurehead for all that, sure, or the catalyst, the person with a big ideas, or the engine that makes it happen, but it takes the team to really succeed. The trouble is, those teams need feeding,
CONTACTS Builders Merchants Journal
Datateam Business Media London Road Maidstone Kent ME15 8LY Tel: 01622 687031
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net
EDITORIAL Group Managing Editor: Fiona Russell Horne 01622 699101 07721 841382
frussell-horne@datateam.co.uk
Assistant editor Anjali Sooknanan 01622 699106
asooknanan@datateam.co.uk
feeding with people, if you’ll excuse the slightly macarbre Little Shop of Horrors reference. There are Office for National Statistic figures that show the employment rate for those in the 50 to 64 age bracket is falling, whether due to ill-health post- pandemic or due to relishing a slower pace of life post-pandemic, even if it comes with a reduction in income.
We need to replenish those teams with fresh blood and with new people. We need to go and shout about the fact that this is an amazing industry to be part of. We should be shouting about it in schools, in colleges, at further education open days and by opening our doors to work experience, allowing youngsters to see for themselves what a wide range of career opportunities there are. The Construction Youth Trust has been doing this and, as you all know, BMJ is playing a part with them, in the Maddie Rose Campaign. Last month, the industry turned yellow on September 22 and it was incredible to see. Not only that, but, in less than a year, the industry has come together to raise an astonishing amount of money to keep going with the programme, allowing young people to build their futures in this industry.
The Campaign is testament to the commitment of everyone in the merchant family. It strikes me that, with what’s going on ‘out-there’, with Putin jangling the keys to his nuclear cupboard, with mortgage rates threatening to stymie the housing market, with energy bills still eye-wateringly high, we are going to need our family more than ever. BMJ
Fiona Russell-Horne Group Managing Editor - BMJ
The best way to predict the future is to create it.
“ Abraham Lincoln CONTENTS
4 Newsround The news from around the industry.
8 News Extra
A report from the BMF Members Day Annual Conference 2022.
14 Business Helpdesk Special Risk Insurance Solutions gives advice on managing risk.
16 People
Who’s moved where and 10 minutes with…
18 Viewpoint Comment and thought leadership.
22 Timber
How timber can help create a net-zero carbon construction supply chain.
23 IT
The latest innovations in the industry.
26 Merchant Focus BMJ talks to MKM about the opening of its 100th branch and plans for the future.
28 Sustainability What the industry is doing to mitigate its effect on the planet.
32 Transport
Production Controller: Nic Mandeville
ADVERTISING Publication Manager: Dawn Tucker 01622 699148 07934 731232
dtucker@datateam.co.uk
Publisher: Paul Ryder
pryder@datateam.co.uk CIRCULATION
ABC audited average circulation July 2018-June 2019: 7,801
SUBSCRIPTIONS
UK 1 year: £97 UK, 2 years: £164 Outside UK: one year £113/$204; two years: £196/$353
© Datateam Business Media Ltd 2022.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means, electronic or mechanical including photo-copying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written consent of the publisher. The title Builders Merchants Journal is registered at Stationers’ Hall. Suppliers have contributed towards production costs of some photographs in this issue.
Investment in logistics continue.
34 Bathrooms, Showers & Kitchens The latest trends and developments.
38 BMF Industry Voice News and views from the BMF.
40 Product News New products to make merchants money.
42 And Finally Try your hand at the BMJ Brainteaser prize crossword.
October 2022
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net 3 ”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70
