I don't think that anyone can now be in denial about the upsurge in house-building and its positive effect on builders merchants. But this welcome trend is not without its downside, as increasingly long delivery times for traditional building materials are being reported by some suppliers. Clay bricks are one case in point, as demand…

The weather over the last few months has been very wet as we all know, but it has also been very windy. As would be expected, prolonged windy weather takes its toll on garden fences. A couple of panels in my back garden were blown over, although my neighbour has now replaced the entire fence…

As construction activity picks up after a (rather too long!) slumber through the recession, the opportunities for skilled construction works are expanding rapidly. The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) estimates that over 180,000 new jobs will be created in the next 5 years, perhaps a greater rate of job creation than in any other sector.

It would appear that despite the odd downpour (well, what with Wimbledon, the Cricket and Glastonbury, what did you expect?!), the weather is set fair for the next few weeks.

The British weather (why is it that other countries have 'climate' but we have 'weather'?) continues to baffle. In the last few weeks we have gone from 'scorchio', through sleet and hail, to the wettest drought on record. It must be causing headaches for most builders and it is certainly not helping the builders' merchant…

Many of us can remember when all cement in bags was 'Ordinary' Portland cement or 'OPC' - nice and simple. All cement was basically the same and you made your choice on the basis of price, availability and brand loyalty. Easy for the customer and easy for the merchant! But now, there seems to be…

The Olympics are over and despite the prophets of doom, there were no terrorist incidents and even the much criticised London transport system coped.

I don’t suppose that there can be anyone left in the UK who is not aware that the London 2012 Olympic Games are nearly upon us. Even I am not totally immune, having watched the Olympic Torch pass through the small town in Warwickshire where I live, on a Sunday evening. Lots of retail opportunities…

The wet and stormy weather does not seem to show any signs of letting up, and the first thing that comes to mind is that merchants should stock plenty of bags and also the sand to fill them up with. But, despite the gloomy prognosis, we are hopefully not too far away from the onset…

The annual ‘Ecobuild’ show once again looms (5th-7th March at the ExCeL Centre in East London), the world’s biggest event for sustainable design, construction and the built environment. It’s a show we have long supported –this will be the first time we have a presence as Lafarge Tarmac, so we’re looking forward to showcasing our…