INDUSTRY UPDATE THE BMA COLUMN
BiKBBI CEO reacts to 2023 Spring Budget
A
s Jeremy Hunt delivered his Spring Budget in The House of Commons last month, I couldn’t help but think that
the government’s front bench feels a little stronger than it has for some time. OK, that doesn’t take much, based on the revolving door of Prime Ministers since Boris Johnson’s departure, but I did feel confident that it seems some stability had at least returned. It was great to hear that the
BMA – Our association’s sustainability mantra
S
ustainability is a central tenet of our work at the Bathroom Manufacturers Association (BMA). Our
members have made great strides in this area, many of them achieving a carbon zero rating and embarking on the challenging net zero status. And, as an association, we work tirelessly to promote decarbonisation and sustainable approaches, whether through campaigns, events, consumer messaging, and even our own operations. The most recent recognition of our efforts resulted in winning the ESG
Initiative of the Year at the Trade Association Forum Awards 2023. This accolade recognised various initiatives and industry leadership demonstrated by the BMA, including our public-facing #GetLavvySavvy campaign, educating consumers on the water lost from toilet leaks and their easy fixes. Late last year, we were awarded the Sustainability Champion category at
the Association Excellence Awards, recognising our commitment and focused strategy toward sustainability for our membership base and reducing the environmental impact of our operations to a minimum. Again, the judges for this category highlighted our #GetLavvySavvy campaign, which received a social media endorsement from TV property expert Sarah Beeny. In addition, we will host our seventh Sustainability Forum in June this
year. These events include a range of guest speakers and experts in their field to guide members to successfully navigate a path to carbon zero and net zero achievements. Of course, it would be remiss of us not to recognise our members’ efforts to reduce their impact on our planet, so this year will see the BMA’s Sustainability Awards return as part of our Annual Conference. This allows an opportunity to recognise the passion within our industry to heighten our environmentally friendly credentials. Lastly, I must mention our lobbying and collaboration to drive higher
industry standards for consumers and industry, not least that of the continuing work with DEFRA on water labelling standards and with the Future Homes Hub on the Water Efficiency Roadmap. Supporting members in product innovation and processes and actively
working in collaborative and innovative partnerships will continue to drive us. While our members remain a priority, we will continue our commitment to consumers by providing guidance to make more sustainable bathroom decisions.
Tom Reynolds Chief Executive of the Bathroom Manufacturers Association
u For more information contact BMA on 01782 631619 or email
info@bathroom-association.org.uk
40 BKU APRIL 2023
UK will narrowly avoid falling into a technical recession, but a look at the forecasts published alongside Hunt’s statement show that we are still set for tough economic times ahead, certainly for the remainder of 2023. Growth, while up a little on previous forecasts, is going to remain sluggish and the tax burden will stay at an all-time high, squeezing people’s living standards. There is also the impact that other economies will continue to have on ours, as recent events with US and European banking troubles demonstrates. Although at the time of writing this, experts were not forecasting a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis and the Bank of England says that the UK banking system is ‘well capitalised and funded, and remains safe and sound’, it still creates a shadow of further uncertainty in what was already billed to be a bumpy and somewhat unpredictable twelve months. This means that KBB installers can’t take the high level of demand
experienced in recent times for granted – consumers will continue to be faced with tough choices about how and when best to spend their money for some time yet. Confirmation of the rise in corporation tax was also unhelpful but the
new ability to expense capital expenditure against taxable profits is something to welcome. As things stand it is only set to last for three years, giving installers a short window to invest in new equipment. This makes the next three years a good time to upgrade and replace tools and vehicles and could go some way to helping deliver the level of service that cash- careful consumers are looking for. There were also a few shards of light when it comes to solving the skills
gap crisis in KBB installation. We’ve long known that the number of skilled installers operating in the sector is declining, and there has not been sufficient planning, or indeed investment, in attracting new labour into the market. The result of this is potentially opening the door to poorly qualified opportunists to take advantage of the consumer demand. The measures announced in the budget to encourage more people to enter the labour market could help with this – particularly as BiKBBI has established an access route via our ground-breaking apprenticeship programme. We’ll need to look carefully at the details but the announcement of a ‘returnership’ version of apprenticeships for over 50s could provide an opportunity for people with life experience, and perhaps transferable skills, to develop a new set of skills and come into KBB installation. Likewise, the news that Investment Zones will have powers to incentivise apprenticeships could give a boost to installer businesses in those areas. Our very own Michelle Daniels in her recent blog (which can be found
on our website (
www.bikbbi.org.uk/blog), explores the impact on installers specifically. As usual, it’s a great read and I’d recommend that tradespeople generally give it read.
Damian Walters BiKBBI Chief Executive Officer
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