COMMENT Driving forces “ I


f I had my time again, I might set up a lorry driver training academy, so that, instead of spending my days reading and writing about a shortage of haulage operatives I could actually do something


about it.


Of course, that would mean doing so way back then with the knowledge that I possess now so, in the inexplicable absence of a time-travelling DeLorean in my garage, this will have to remain academic.


There were always going to be issues with a shortage of lorry drivers, I’m afraid. Every recession I have been through - and it’s a worryingly high number bearing in mind in my head I’m still in my 20s - has had issues with transport when the market emerges from the other end of the financial difficulties.


This time, however, it’s different and is likely to be a little harder to solve.


In the mid 1990s, as the industry got back on its feet, we were reporting brick manufacturers struggling to deliver the bricks they had sold because a huge number of drivers had either left the industry or had shifted to transporting different types of goods. You can’t just chuck a load of bricks on any old lorry, you know.


It was a similar story 10 years ago when things started to get back on track after the hiatus of the global financial crash and the collapse of Lehmann Brothers and all the rest, when the tap was turned off on new housebuilding, almost, it seemed, over night. Eventually, after a number of schemes - anyone rmember Kickstart? - the Government brought in Help to Buy in order to boost the newbuild industry. It worked a treat, but there were still initial issues with getting the stuff to where it needed to be.


This time, though, it’s not just that we are rebuilding after a recession, it’s that the demographics and societal structure have changed. The construction industry has been warning since the Brexit issue reared its head about the likely difficulties to be faced by a construction industry


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that had become heavily reliant on overseas employees, mostly from the EU, thanks to the freedom of movement deal.


This is an industry that was already struggling with a lack of skilled workers, don’t forget. Now the issue has expanded to the logistics sector the problem is not just about lack of skills to build, it’s about the lack of stuff to build with, because no-one can get it where it needs to be.


Why we have such a shortage is something we could spend all day debating, though “Because Covid” is definitely one of the culprits. The furlough scheme gave many workers the opportunity to re-think their lives and decide what they wanted out of them. “Because Brexit” also has to own up here too, to some extent. The difficulties of recruiting skilled workers or drivers are multiplied a thousandfold when you take that into consideration. Britain needs 100,000 more drivers if it is to meet demand, according to the UK’s Road Haulage Association. The signs are already there: sporadic gaps on supermarket shelves, pubs running low on beer, McDonald’s suspending milkshakes and there’s no chance of going for a cheeky Nando’s to end the working week because there’s no chicken. If I’m to try and find an upside to all this, and you know how I love doing that, it’s that there will be an increasing reliance upon the middle. Those supply chain businesses that build good relationships with their customers and suppliers, and understand the needs and requirements of both sides. These middle-men-and-women are logistics experts themselves as they are the ones who ensure that building materials are with the builders when the builders need them. They rose to the challenge of Covid, they will rise to the challenge of this. We need a name for this vital link in the supply chain. Someone help me out here, machants, morchants, mer-something? BMJ


Fiona Russell-Horne Group Managing Editor - BMJ


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The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful, is the man who will win. Roger Bannister


CONTENTS 4 Newsround


10 BMJ Industry Awards


Who’s hosting and where is it? 12 People


Who’s moved where and 10 Minutes With…


14 Business Helpdesk The cashless society?


16 BMJ Industry Awards


Check the nominations here. 18 Viewpoint


BMJ columnists on business growth, employment issues and getting ‘pinged’.


24 Exhibition Focus UK Construction Week is back.


28 Merchant Focus Jewson Civils Fraser brings specialisms together.


30 Rainwater,


plumbing and heating Trends and developments.


34 Talking Points Eavesdropping on the NBG.


36 IT Investment continues in software.


38 Painting and Decorating


Trends and developments.


40 BMF Industry Voice News and views from the BMF.


42 Product news The latest products from suppliers 46 And Finally


News and the BMJ Crossword September 2021 www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net 3 ”


News from around the industry 8 News Extra


The No Going Back initiative


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