Builders merchants trade association the Builders Merchants Federtion is among the consruction indusry groups warning that supply chain shortages are being exacerbated by the NHS Covid app ‘pingdemic’. The latest problems were highlighted in a statement from the  Construction Leadership Council’s Product Availability working group. Its update warned that “labour shortages are being exacerbated by […]

If I had my life to live over again, I’d be a plumber. Back in the olden days – before Covid,  the credit-crunch and the 2008-financial-crash, it was a truth, universally acknowledged, that one of the easiest things to do in this industry was set up a plumber’s merchant. All you needed was an industrial […]

The World’s Strongest Brothers and Scottish legends – Tom and Luke Stoltman – have officially opened a new builder’s merchant in Inverness this week. MKM Inverness, conveniently located on a 1.2-acre site on Harbour Road, has created 17 new jobs in the area and is the first brand new merchant branch to open its doors […]

The UK plumbers merchant market contracted again with the sale of  Saint Gobain’s Graham Plumbers Merchant business to competitors Wolseley and UK Plumbing Supplies. The latter will take the majority of the Graham branches, as well as the Graham brand name and website, with a smaller number of branches will be divested to Wolseley. The transactions […]

Independent builders and plumbers merchant buying group National Buying Group (NBG) has  officially launched its new Product Information Management service (PIM) to centrally collect high quality, accurate and timely product and pricing information from Suppliers before delivering it to Partners. The system is the first of its kind in the independent builders merchant sector. PIM […]

Independent plumbers merchant James Hargreaves has launched a new national ‘clearance warehouse’ website  to sell items, including ex-contract and discontinued stock, from top manufacturers. Plumbing, heating and bathroom products from manufactyrers such as Hansgrohe, Jacuzzi and Villeroy & Boch – all new & unused – will be offered at www.jhclearance.com,  at highly competitive prices with […]

O, it is excellent To have a giant’s strength, but it is tyrannous To use it like a giant Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Once upon a time there was a small independent builder’s merchant who had ambitions to be a bigger independent builder’s merchant. So, they added another branch, then a […]