NEWS EXTRA BMF CHAIRMAN’S VIEW
Having conducted the AGM business, Richard Hill, chairman of the Builders Merchants Federation, opened the Members Day Conference by highlighting some of the opportunities and challenges that the event would address.
“TODAY, WE want to look more at our businesses and the environment that our businesses operate in, and at some of the opportunities and challenges that our businesses face,” said BMF chairman Richard Hill in his opening address.. Product data and
standardisation is one area that the BMF has been working hard on; Hill said that the impact, and importance, of accurate data is
only going to grow. “We have an important initiative, that has been developed with our members and by our members.” Government influence is also an area that the BMF has been working hard on, and Hill said that there is great engagement from members. “It shows me that if you do come together with some of these big topics, you can help us do our best to influence government.”
Hill also reported that there will be a new marketing campaign to promote the sector, explaingi what it is that the building materials industry has to offer.
“One of the messages that came out very strongly across businesses large and small, is what a great dynamic and connected sector this is. I think we know it because we are in it. The task with this campaign is to
BMF SETS ITS STALL OUT FOR BUILDING EXCELLENCE
BMF CEO John Newcomb used his platform at the Members Day event to launch the BMF’s next set of initiatives.
“WE HAVE A NUMBER of initiatives that we believe, as a trade association, will add the most value to your business,” said BMF CEO John Newcomb, addressing the organisation’s Annual Members Day Conference.
“We want to help you to build inclusivity, build skills; build efficiency into the business, build sustainability; despite the cooling of the government, the bottom line is that the net-zero targets stay the same. We still have to drive carbon out of this industry; build awareness of the sector.
To build inclusivity, there is the Construction Inclusion Coalition, launched at the Members Day Conference which has brought together 10 organisations, and which has developed a Built On Better pledge. This leads into the Apprenticeship Pledge, aiming to build skills. Newcomb said: “If we are to build for the future, we need those young people coming in to
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the sector from our apprenticeship pledge. We have already have had 17 of our members sign up to the pledge including large organisations such as Travis Perkins and smaller merchants.”
On the building efficiency front, Newcomb explained that, too often in the industry, suppliers end up filling in data forms from several different merchants, all of it in different formats. “This is nonsense, and it adds costs to the business. We have developed a product template, that brings all your data together, and in one place. “We have already had a number of people adopting this template, so they have trialled it and are now building it into their businesses. We are looking for this to be used universally across the industry; our target is for 85% of the industry conducting this template by the end of 2024.”
He explained that the BMF has also launched a sustainability
research report, available on the website, based on interviews with BMF members. “This gives a really good idea of where we are with sustainability, both from the manufacturers and the merchants, and, as a resource, it is only available to members.”
Newcomb said that the Make It Visible campaign by the Lighthouse Charity, which deals with mental health issues, will be expanded out to the merchant sector. “All the campaign material will be available to all our members, giving you access to resources that can help with mental health issues and mental health training. There’s
tell the public about how great the building materials sector is, if you want to build a career. We have over 500 roles within our sector, a huge range, and the opportunity with the campaign is for those who are seeking work for the first time, looking for a change of career or maybe looking to take a job later in life, that they choose us as a sector against all the other sectors there.” BMJ
a whole suite of materials from window stickers, posters, helpline cards. In the area of safety, we now have a new safety strategy, and we are working to develop minimum standards. If you need help with health and safety, come straight to the BMF and we can help you and advise you.
“Finally, this is one of the largest of our launches at Members Day this year, we are aiming to create awareness for this sector,” he said. This is a new marketing campaign, aimed at raising the awareness of the building materials sector. “We are not talking about merchants or suppliers anymore, but collectively about building materials. We have a five-stage plan to put the buildings material sector on the map, and we want to create clear paths to employment. We want to create pride in the sector within which we all work.” The campaign, which will run on the premise that the building materials sector changes the world around us, being about where we live, where we work and where we travel, will officially launch next year, probably in the late Spring. In the meantime, he asked members to think about getting involved in the campaign, to have someone in their organisations who can act as liaison with the wider efforts.“ BMJ
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net October 2023
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