As the industry’s trade association our mission is to help members to excel at providing materials and services for building a better future, so it is enormously gratifying when the impact of the work we undertake is recognised by our peers. I was both surprised and humbled to receive this year’s Leadership Award in the Trade Association Forum (TAF) BestPractice Awards.

While it is a tremendous honour to receive this Award, I am well aware that I am just one member of a fantastic team at the BMF. This is really a reward for their hard work in developing initiatives which add real value to our members. I am incredibly proud of what has been achieved to date and we will continue to promote best practice and deliver the services that matter most to our members. 

On the subject of industry recognition, at the BMF Members' Annual Conference and Awards in September we will be announcing both the BMF Training Company of the Year and the winner of the BMF Supplier Engagement Award.

The BMF Training Company of the Year is open to merchants who actively support and develop their teams using BMF Training as a key element of their programme. Five companies from around the UK have been nominated for this Award - BPS Builders Merchants, Dumfries Timber Co, Chandler Material Supplies, Howarth Timber & Building Supplies and LBS.  Between them they have used every aspect of BMF’s training offer, including on-line learning, one or two day classroom courses, formal apprenticeships and our flagship Diploma and Foundation Degree courses.

Suppliers and service providers play a vital role in the building materials community and no less than eight companies are shortlisted for our Supplier Engagement Award. Crystal, Encon Insulation, Ibstock, JCB, Kerridge Commercial Systems, Knauf, Marsh Industries and Velux have all demonstrated the value they place on membership by integrating BMF sponsorship within their sales and marketing strategies.

We must also congratulate the “Merchants of Menace” from Chandler Building Supplies who recently won the annual BMF Mastermerchant competition for the third year running. While it is a fun competition the combination of physical and mental challenges is designed to help participants discover more about their colleagues’ strengths and develop better teamwork.

Overseas inspiration

One of the most important things that we can do in order to succeed is to share knowledge and best practice.

The BMF’s closer association with UFEMAT means it is now far simpler to share best practice across international borders. Our first European Young Merchants fact-finding trip saw 25 next generation managers from the UK and Belgium visit an impressive Knauf manufacturing plant in the French Midi-Pyrenees region, followed by a visit to Chausson Materiaux, one of the country’s largest independent merchants with 350 sites across France. The group also visited the impressive Airbus operation for a two-hour tour of their manufacturing facility to learn from a completely different industry.

Meanwhile the BMF’s own best practice exchange with our Spanish colleagues at Andimat is underway.  They joined us in July to see our head office operation and the Mastermerchant event in action and we will be taking part in a return visit this autumn.  What goes around, comes around – and everyone benefits.


Book your place at Mastermerchant 2020 here

This article appeared in the July/August 2019 edition of Builders Merchants News (BMN)