When everything you do, you do too long, and do too late, you can’t expect to find the people still there. It’s a cliché, true, and one that regular readers of this column will know I am inordinately fond of, but once again, a UK Chancellor has delivered a curate’s …

Ian Dean has become managing director for Landscape and Building Products at Marshalls, having worked for the business since August 2020, when he joined to manage several specific business divisions. His leadership of the divisions of Civils and Drainage, Bricks and Masonry, Mortars and Screeds, Aggregates, and Landscape Protection will …

The current Construction Minister, Lee Rowley MP, has been booked as a keynote speaker at the Builders Merchants Federation’s Members’ Conference in September. As Construction Minister, Rowley co-chairs the Construction Leadership Council and takes responsibility for Net Zero Industry Champions and the ConstructZero initiative. In addition to his construction role, …

In his Spring Statement yesterday (March 23), Chancellor Rishi Sunak scrapped VAT on  energy-efficiency products such as solar panels, heat pumps or insulation, in a move described by Builders Merchants Federation CEO John Newcomb as a ‘ray of hope’ Newcomb said: “The Chancellor offered two rays of hope in his Spring …

All that glisters is not gold There is so much going on in this industry at the moment, so much to write about and think about. There are anniversaries of long-standing family run companies, there are energy-intensive manufacturers investing in the sustainability of their processes and there is the march …

 TIMCO (TI Midwood & Co Limited), the independent family-owned construction materials wholesaler, has sold to Bufab, a Swedish based C-Parts Supply Chain Partner for £54 million on a cash-free/debt-free basis. A performance-based additional payment may be made in 2023-2024 conditional on operating profit. TIMCO managing director Simon Midwood, son of …

The Speed Blades from OLFA UK undergo a manufacturing process at the facilities in Japan to make them sharper, longer-lasting and more economical than standard utility knife blades. The OLFA black blades cut with unparalleled sharpness, and have a fluorine coating, which drastically reduces resistance, helping blades to glide easily. …

But he did not understand the price. Mortals never do. They only see the prize, their heart’s desire, their dream… But the price of getting what you want, is getting what you once wanted. It was International Women’s Day last week and it rather passed me by. I was busy …

Distribution giant SIG plc has shown a return to underlying profit in its results for the financial year ended December 31 2021. The rise was driven by market share gains and margin discipline in what remains a challenging market, and was ahead of expectations. Group like-for-like sales were up 24% …

He is the very model of a modern major general There can’t be many out there – with a few Russian exceptions – that don’t have a full-blown crush on Volodymyr Zelensky. I wrote this before I heard the Ukrainian President’s speech to the House of Commons yesterday evening – …