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Building materials supply return to pre-covid levels
Following its summer break, the September meeting the Construction Leadership Council’s Product Availability working group reports the supply of most building materials returned to pre-covid levels. This includes bricks, blocks, boilers, plaster and timber. A statement by the co-chairs, John Newcomb, CEO of the BMF, and Peter Caplehorn, CEO of the Construction Products Association, reports that mineral wool has come off allocation and returned to normal supply, and that, looking ahead, a major supplier is investing £50m to increase capacity for glass mineral wool to support anticipated demand stemming from works under the Social Housing Decarbonisation
Fund, which must be completed by the end of 2024.
The statement reported that brick stocks have recovered and availability is no longer a key issue, although some concerns persist around the supply of semi- conductors particularly for certain electrical components, despite the increase in worldwide capacity. The proper surveys of RAAC in certain public buildings are ongoing to assess any need to replace, repair or remediate those materials. The CLC has formed a RAAC industry response group to respond to this challenge and will share views on any supply chain concerns. Though in early days, at this time we have none in regard to product availability.
Price inflation has stabilised. Whereas a year ago there were increases of over 5%, where products are increasing in price, it is now at 1-2%. There are reports of more discounts in the market and some indicators show prices coming down. The price of timber, for example, continues to fall, along with some plastic and energy intensive products. This is largely due to a stagnation of demand, particularly the ongoing decline in housebuilding activity over the last six months.
Poor weather and strikes in July and the August holiday period also contributed to a slowdown in activity over the summer. Although there are signs of
BMF partners with construction industry to launch new coalition to tackle lack of diversity
The BMF has united with ten leading organisations in the construction industry to launch a new coalition that aims to tackle a lack of diversity across the industry. The Construction Inclusion Coalition (CIC) has been established by CEOs at leading organisations including Aliaxis, Baxi, Bradfords, Highbourne Group, Ibstock PLC, Knauf, Travis Perkins PLC, Wavin, Wolseley Group, the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) and the National Merchant Buying Society (NMBS), to raise sector standards on equity, diversity and inclusion, with an immediate focus on gender representation in its first year.
The Coalition was launched at the BMF Annual Conference in a session addressed by CIC Chairperson and Toolstation Managing Director, Angela Rushforth, and representatives of two CIC founder members, Sam Grierson, Customer Proposition Director & EDI Chair for Wolseley Group, and James Saunders , Chief People Officer of City Plumbing.
The Coalition is being launched alongside new polling which shows that only one third (36%) of British people would feel confident that their female family or friends would be safe and respected if they joined the construction industry. The research of over 2,000 adults also outlines the opportunity for the sector, with nearly half of people (46%) saying they’d be more likely to actively seek out employment opportunities in the construction industry if it demonstrated a stronger commitment to diversity and inclusion.
John Newcomb, CEO of the BMF says: “This is a vitally important initiative for the building materials sector and others that make up the construction industry, which the BMF is proud to support. In common with other traditional industries, we are faced with an
October 2023
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ageing workforce, and one that remains predominantly male and pale. As an industry we must act together to create an environment where opportunities are clearly available to a far wider demographic, to attract and recruit from the diverse pool of talent we have in this country.”
Construction Inclusion Coalition Chairperson and Toolstation Managing Director, Angela Rushforth says: “There is no doubt that the future of our industry is at risk if we don’t create an environment where all our colleagues feel safe, empowered and confident. I want all young women to see the construction sector as I do - full of opportunity.” “We aren’t attracting and retaining from a diverse pool of talent, because many think the construction sector is not for them. These are industry-wide challenges that require industry-wide solutions, which is why the Construction Inclusion Coalition has been set up to improve equity, diversity and inclusion.”
improvement in some regions in September, the key economic drivers – inflation, increased cost of living and higher interest rates – will remain a significant challenge for construction output for the rest of the year. With the availability and cost of financing options increasingly limited, commercial behaviour is likely to harden putting pressure on lower tiers and SME companies reducing cash-flow capacity and making liquidity a greater challenge. The Council is seeing an increase in the number of insolvencies and administrations; this is an area it will continue to monitor the industry as it nagivates through choppy waters.
BMF’s Kerry Wilson joins RCI Panel Discussion on Skills Gap
Kerry Wilson, Learning & Development Manager at the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) will
take part in an important panel discussion at the RCI Show discussing how we close the skills gap and recruit new blood into the industry.
Kerry, who has worked in Learning and Development for 15 years, is an advocate for improving diversity and generating awareness of career and development opportunities in the building materials sector.
As well as overseeing the BMF’s apprenticeship programme, Kerry works with the BMF Ambassador group to promote apprenticeships in the industry and is currently involved with various initiatives including the Apprenticeship Pledge through which BMF members are committing to recruit 15,000 new apprentices by 2030.
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