By John Newcomb, BMF CEO
18 June 2019 

The UK regions are the powerhouses of our economy. As a trade body, BMF works actively to stay close to them and deliver a service that supports their unique needs.

Our regions are broken down into 11 areas across England, Scotland and Wales. Within each, there’s a wide-range of activity taking place - and it’s the links forged in these communities which makes BMF strong.

Two meetings a year are held in each of the 11 regions, giving members and non-members alike a chance to get together, network and gain support for their businesses.

For those of you who have not yet sampled a regional meeting, our message is simply that you are missing out. These are great events, which always attract a good crowd and a lively atmosphere. A warm welcome awaits.

Marking the changes

Activity in the 11 areas is supported by BMF Regional Chairmen, who play an invaluable role in shaping our local service.In the last 12 months, we have welcomed three new members to the group, and together they are helping to develop the future direction we take regionally.

We want to bring about change to ensure our work in the regions is relevant and of value to merchants and suppliers. That includes trying new formulas to further enhance the regional meeting structure, to broaden their appeal even further. One example of this in action is in London’s South East Region, where a meeting is going to be held on a Friday daytime - a break away from the usual evening session - at Spurs’ new ground.  

Other plans for the future include attracting different speakers and introducing new formats.

We also continue to expand our network of Regional Centres of Excellence, with the 28th facility recently opened in Birmingham, and plans in place to operate 30 by the end of the calendar year. Hosting local events and training sessions, these centres give us a physical presence nationwide – providing a vital link up and down the country.

We’d welcome any feedback and ideas for regional meetings. Please share them with me at [email protected].

Q1 Business Boost

At our regional meetings, one of the topics that continues to emerge is the positive economic climate. It’s a situation reflected in the current BMF Builders Merchant BuildingIndex (BMBI), which contains data from GfK’s ground-breaking Builders Merchants Panel, analysing data from over 80 per cent of generalist builders’ merchants’ sales throughout Britain. 

The latest version reports growth of 5.9 per cent for Q1 of 2019, compared to the same time last year.A caveat to this is that the 2018 figures included the slow down from the ‘Beast From The East,’ so we are not sure yet if that growth is substantially weather dependent.

However, it is fair to say that merchants are generally reporting a very encouraging start to the year.In tune with BMF’s focus on the regions, the latest BMBI also has a new feature added, with local level data now included for the first time.This reveals, in detail, how Britain’s builders’ merchants perform in different parts of the country.

The BMBI report also shows how much each region contributes to the overall UK market share. That means it is now possible to see how Britain’s builders’ merchants perform in different parts of the country, reflecting the ‘regional health’ of construction - vital intelligence as we face uncertain times ahead.

Members’ Day Conference and Awards

As Brexit and general uncertainty continue to dominant headlines, those of you attending BMF Members’ Day Conference and Awards Dinner, will have a great opportunity to hear first-hand from a voice at the heart of Westminster. Kit Malthouse MP, Minister of State for Housing, will speak at our flagship event on 19 September 2019.  

The Members’ Day Conference takes place at St George’s Park - the Football Association’s national football centre – and in keeping with the sporting theme, the BMF’s annual Golf Tournament will be held on the previous day, 18 September at the newly-opened JCB Golf and Country Club.This is a superb two-day event, exclusively for BMF members, which reflects all that’s great in the British merchant sector.

To book your place click here or contact [email protected].


This article first appeared in the June 2019 edition of Builders Merchants News (BMN)