Issue: July 2013
News | Business | Products | Training | Publications | Diary
in this
issue
BMF Members’
Day Event
GfK launches
Merchant
Research Panel
BMF attracts
new members
Official opening of new HQ
sets the scene for a bigger,
stronger BMF
Around the
regions
Welcome to
One Voice
A big welcome to the new look
BMF newsletter. Titled One Voice,
this links with our new corporate
strapline “one industry, one voice”
and further emphasises the BMF’s
role as a Merchant focussed trade
association, with relevance to every
builders merchant and every supplier
to the Merchant industry in Britain.
One Voice will truly be the voice
of your industry and will report on
news, trends, events, leglisation, and
issues that will affect your business
today and in the future.
BMF chairman, Terry Parker, and managing director, John Newcomb welcomed
members old and new to the opening of the Builders Merchants Federation’s new
headquarters at Coventry Business Park on 30th April 2013.
The headquarters was officially opened by England Rugby hero, Martin Johnson and the
Lord Mayor of Coventry, Councillor Tim Sawdon.
Produced quarterly, One Voice will
be available free to members in a
printed format or as a downloadable
online pdf.
If there are any topics that you would
like us to feature, please make your
suggestions to:
chris.harding@bmf.org.uk
New website reflects new dynamic BMF
To coincide with the move to Coventry,
our website has undergone a
complete makeover in both style and
functionality.
The look and feel of the new site reflects
our standing as a modern professional
organisation and is designed to appeal to
our wide-ranging membership and other
audiences. It is colourful and dynamic,
encompassing our updated corporate
identity and brand and utilising a wide
range of high quality, industry-related
images, and strong signposting to ensure
maximum user enjoyment.
It’s not just stylish on the outside. The
functionality is extremely slick, allowing
users to access the precise information
they require in bite sized chunks without
having to scroll through a barrage of
words to get there.
MD, John Newcomb is delighted with the
result, saying: “Our new website reflects
both our new corporate identity and the
brand image of the BMF in 2013. We are
a dynamic organisation working on behalf
of the whole industry. Our new on-line
presence reinforces this, enabling users
to quickly access information on services,
download latest reports and to find out
about future events”.
Visit our new site at www.bmf.org.uk
GfK launches
Merchant
Research Panel
Sustainable strategy
implemented at new HQ
Global market research company,
GfK has launched a new market
research initiative with the merchant
industry. This new service is a first for
the merchanting sector, giving clarity
on the sector’s overall performance
and delivering a real-time insight into
how different products and brands
are performing.
A Builders Merchants Panel is being
created to gather data from across
the industry – initially from national and
large independent merchants – and
is encouraging merchant members to
participate to ensure the panel is fully
representative of the sector. The service is
due to start in September 2013, with the
first results available at the end of Q4.
The BMF will be the only trade body to be
given access to GfK’s top-line merchant
panel data and analytics on market growth
rates, category and product performance.
This means that, apart from the merchants
participating in the GfK panel who will
receive detailed information on their own
performance in the market, only BMF
members will have access to the valuable
top-line information from this report.
As an industry, there is a distinct lack of
accurate market data. GfK data is used
widely in other similar industries, and we
believe that their expertise and experience
will be extremely valuable to the building
materials industry.
This is a huge opportunity for our industry
to benefit from accurate current data to
understand channel performance, the
growth of the sector, and the performance
of categories and the brands operating
within it. GfK reports that in other sectors
there is evidence that their reports create
a common language for buyers and
manufacturers to compare the performance
of products and brands. Furthermore, the
data coming from the merchant panel will
remove confusion and ambiguity and give
clarity to suppliers and merchants alike on
brand, product and sector performance.
Contact: www.gfk.com/uk
and practical solution to ensure the
building’s energy efficiency today, and
ensuring flexibility to adapt the building in
the longer term continuing to future proof it
from ever increasing energy costs.
A number of sustainable products and
systems have been installed, including
LED lighting, Solar PV and an A rated
boiler which will reduce our energy usage
by 30% and defray total energy costs by
75%, with a payback of 4 years or less.
Our newly refurbished headquarters
building can be heralded as an
exemplar project for sustainable office
occupation and therefore and thus
showcases the depth of knowledge
and understanding that builders
merchants have in this field.
The BMF worked with member company,
the Green Energy Centre (GEC) at John
A. Stephens Ltd, to develop a sustainable
strategy and practical solution to ensure
the energy efficiency of its refurbished HQ.
The Green Energy Centre conducted a
review of energy efficiency together with
the renewable opportunities of the building,
and developed a sustainable, cost effective
Many of the initial energy cost reduction
measures are concentrated on the ground
floor, the major area of occupation and
energy use. These include:
• A new Vaillant A rated boiler
• Thermal insulation throughout the
building
• Zoning of the ground floor air from the
first floor air
• Draught proofing
• LED light fittings
• Light occupancy sensors for
intermittently occupied areas
All products and systems were purchased
through member John A Stephens
GEC and installed through GEC partner
Willmark Energy.
The new BMF attracts new members
Merchant Members
3 Counties Timber and Building Supplies Ltd
Allneeds Building & Construction Ltd. T/A ABC Depot
Baudains Trade Supplies (BTS)
Beatson’s Building Supplies Ltd
Beckenham Building Supplies Ltd
Beesley & Fildes
Bridport Building Supplies
Bulk Builders Merchants
Cartmore Building Supply Co Ltd
Jones & Shufflebottom Ltd
Longwater Construction Supplies Ltd
Martin & Partners Ltd
Rembrand Timber Ltd
Merchant Members contd.
Smith, E.H. (Builders Merchants) Ltd
St. Andrews Timber & Building Supplies Ltd
Undercover Roofing Supplies
Supplier Members
ABUS (UK) Ltd
Gatic
Hamilton Acorn Ltd
Monument Tools Ltd
Pendock
Reisser Ltd
TTS Tooltechnic Systems GB Ltd
VELUX Company Ltd
Around
the Regions
Scottish Region
Regional meetings are back on the
agenda in Scotland. Airth Castle was
the venue for an excellent attendance
by members and non members
with Graham Bolton the new BMF
Regional Manager attending his
first meeting. A strong agenda saw
delegates discussing industry issues
along the impending vote for the
independence of Scotland.
One welcome discussion was the
popular Burns Supper evening. This
will be held on 24 January at the
Trades Hall. Contact
graham.bolton@bmf.org.uk or
chris.harding@bmf.org.uk to
register your interest.
Launch of Safety
Plus gives merchants
dedicated H&S
We are pleased to announce the launch
of our new Safety Plus business support
service which has been developed
specifically for builders merchants.
Working with health and safety specialists
Southall Associates Ltd, a radically
different service is now available for our
members. The new Safety Plus service
comprises two key elements:
• A bespoke consultancy service,
which includes an initial assessment,
tailored H&S policy documents, risk
assessments and staff handbooks, a
6-monthly safety audit, plus ongoing
advice and support.
• An online safety management
system, which banishes mountains of
paperwork and enables merchants to
easily and quickly manage H&S at every
branch.
The introduction of Safety Plus is the start
of an ongoing drive by the BMF to review
the business services currently offered and
to bring new services to members. Best of
Breed services will be sought, researched
and reviewed to ensure that members
have the best advice and support available
across the board.
According to Southall Associates, builders
merchants are one of the top three
business types to fall foul of H&S law,
which led to the development of bespoke
software and consultancy which puts
the merchant in charge of H&S, not the
enforcement officer.
Already the system has been adopted by
over 100 builders merchants and has a
100% retention record.
For more information about Safety
Plus, call your BMF Regional Manager
or BMF Head Office.
BURNS NIGHT IS BACK!
The popular BMF Scottish Region Burns
Night is back for 2014!
Young Merchants
The BMF Young Merchants group
met at the new BMF offices in
Coventry last month. Chairman
Simon Fleet (MD of Thomas Dudley),
welcomed 30 attendees from both
merchant and supplier companies,
the biggest attendance for some time.
Their debate included the forthcoming
BMF Trade Credit Enterprise Finance
Guarantee scheme and how much
social media plays an important part
in business.
To join the group contact
chris.harding@bmf.org.uk
Following an absence of three years the
event has been brought back by popular
demand and will take place at the Free
Trades Hall in Glasgow on Friday 24
January.
There are various sponsorship
opportunities available and tables can be
booked as well as individual bookings.
The event is proving very popular and
several tables are booked already. Make
sure you don’t miss it, put the date in your
diary now.
Contact graham.bolton@bmf.org.uk or
chris.harding@bmf.org.uk for further
details.
The BMF Trade Credit Enterprise
Finance Guarantee Scheme
ADE CREDIT E
TR
R
E GUA ANTEE
NC
ERPRISE FINA
NT
BMF offers you access to a brand new
type of affordable guarantee cover to help
you grow your business.
Only available to BMF members, this new
scheme will enable you to offer future
or existing SME trade customers credit
that you would normally have to refuse.
It comes as a result of the government’s
decision to widen the scope of the existing
Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme
under which the government shares the
risk of extending SME’s cash flow finance
by providing government guarantees of
75% on new lending. The BMF is one of a
select group of partner organisations the
Department for Business, Innovation &
Skills (BIS) has chosen to work with to pilot
this concept.
As part of the new corporate identity
programme, we have also changed our
September 2013
12th
BMF Yorkshire Region, Ganton
17th-18th
BMF Members’ Day Event,
Whittlebury Hall Hotel,
Towcester, Northants
The BMF TCEFG will have an initial
capacity to facilitate up to £50m of
additional trade credit. Applications are
invited, with the level of cover you require
and will be accepted on a first come first
served basis.
Event includes:
For more information contact:
peter.matthews@bmf.org.uk
• Awards Dinner
• Keynote speakers
• BMF Workshops
New identity and
strapline
unveiled
Most of you will have now seen our
new logo and corporate identity
which we launched alongside the
opening of our new headquarters.
Our new identity represents an
evolutionary change whilst retaining the
brand heritage of a Trade Federation with
a history stretching back over 100 years.
The most significant changes are the
addition of the colour red to the logo, and
the incorporation of our full name within
the main body of the logo. The addition
of red reflects the organisation’s new
dynamism, while the new Red, White and
Blue corporate colours mirror those of
the national flag to highlight our inherent
Britishness, inclusivity and spread of
influence.
Dates for
your Diary
• BMF Golf Classic
Competition - sponsored by
Monument Tools
• BMF Silverstone Experience
24th-25th
Visit the BMF stand at
Timber Expo Exhibition, NEC
October 2013
3rd
BMF North East Region, Ramside
Hall Hotel, Durham
strapline to better reflect the Vision we
presented at Members’ Day in October
last year. The new strapline “one industry,
one voice”, emphasises our role as a
Merchant focussed trade association and
its relevance to every builders merchant
and every supplier to the Merchant
Industry in Britain.
Guidelines for the use of the BMF
corporate identity are available
from Christine Harding at
chris.harding@bmf.org.uk
Builders Merchants Federation Limited
1180 Elliott Court, Coventry Business Park, Herald Avenue, Coventry CV5 6UB
Tel: 02476 854980 | Fax: 02476 854981
Email: info@bmf.org.uk | www.bmf.org.uk
Registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965 No 31516R
8th
BMF South West Region, RGB,
Tiverton
29th
BMF Central Southern Region,
WPL, Waterlooville
November 2013
14th
BMF London & South East Region,
Lords Cricket Ground, London