BMF Young Merchants - building the next generation

By James Spillane, BMF Regional Manager
10 September 2019


BMF Young Merchants in ToulouseKnauf Insulation hosted this year’s BMF Young Merchants Group supplier trip to Toulouse, which took place over an extended weekend in July. 25 attendees representing both merchants and suppliers enjoyed a plant tour, a merchant visit and plenty of opportunities to network over drinks and dinner.

This year’s trip centred around a tour of Knauf Insulation’s Lannemezan plant. Opened in 2010, Lannemezan manufactures high-performance non-combustible Glass Mineral Wool products for use all over Europe.

After the tour, the group was given an overview of the Knauf Insulation business in the UK and globally over lunch.

The team also visited a branch of Chausson Materiaux, one of the leading national independent builders’ merchants in France, with 350 sites, 3,800 staff and an annual turnover of €863m.

The final day included an inspiring trip to the headquarters of global aviation giant Airbus, followed by drinks and a gourmet dinner in the evening, before flights home the following morning.

“These trips are about building connections and broadening horizons”, said Jo Callow, Merchant Sales Support Manager at Knauf Insulation and Vice-Chair of the BMF Young Merchants Group. “Today’s young members may well be tomorrow’s business leaders, so this is about giving them the chance to connect and to learn new things - whether that’s seeing how high-performance products are manufactured, or how other merchant chains operate.”

The BMF Young Merchants group brings together the next generation of merchant and supplier leaders. Through regular meetings and events, including the annual supplier trip, members build their personal networks and develop the lasting relationships that are a hallmark of successful professionals in merchanting.

“Conversations with people in similar businesses give great insight into how other companies are dealing with the challenges we all face”, said Edward Parlato, Marketing Executive, Browns Builders Merchants. “I work for a family business, so I was first directed towards Young Merchants at age 19. It was a fairly daunting prospect at the time, but it’s one of the best things I’ve done in the industry. The connections and opportunities you get from this group are incredible. Anyone with a young person in their business who they want to invest in for the future should consider encouraging them to join Young Merchants.”

This year’s trip had a particularly European focus, with a contingent of young members from the FeMa, the Belgian equivalent to the BMF, in attendance for the first time. With international connections increasingly important in the construction industry, young members from both federations will benefit from more opportunities for cross-border collaboration to forge new partnerships and work together on common industry interests.

This article first appeared in the September 2019 edition of One Voice.

Click here for more information about BMF Young Merchants or contact [email protected]