Fiona Russell-Horne

Group Managing Editor across the BMJ portfolio.

CPA warns CE marking extension excludes construction products

construction materials low res

Following clarification from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, about an indefinite extension to the use of CE marking for UK businesses, the Construction Products Association has warned that it does not pertain to the construction products sector. CPA chairman Peter Caplehorn says: “Rather, the situation for our sector remains the …

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Civils & Lintels invests in new lintel capacity

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Civils & Lintels, part of the Huws Gray group, has invested more than £5m to increase its capacity and enhance its service levels to the UK residential sector. The business has created four regional distribution hubs for the lintels division  – including new facilities in Nottinghamshire and the South East …

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Travis Perkins sees first half sales and profits fall

Travis Perkins plc Results 2023 CEO Nick Roberts

Builders merchant group Travis Perkins has posted a fall of 2.5% in revenue and 31% in adjusted operating profts for the six months to June 30 2023. The announcement today (August 1) showed sales were £2,472m and operating profit £112m  reflecting weak market volumes in private domestic RMI and new …

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Bond It saves customers from harsh choices

Bond It Patio Blaster

Bond It has revamped its Patio Blaster green mould remover, including the introduction of new packaging to give the product a fresh, new look and make Patio Blaster’s benefits more accessible and readably understandable. Patio Blaster is highly effective at removing green mould, lichens, moss, algae and other organic growth …

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Slowdown costs Marshalls jobs and Scottish factory

marshalls site

Building products manufacturer Marshalls saw group revenue fall by 13% for the first half of 2023, a trading update today (July 31) revealed. As a result, the company is cutting 250 jobs and closing its factory in Carluke, Lanarkshire. The job losses are in addition to the 150 redundancies announced …

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Take your pick

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Nothing is pleasant that is not spiced with variety. Some weeks there are so many things happening ‘out-there’ that require comment, that I’m never sure where to start, nor which to choose. This is one of them. So, this week’s missive will be something of a smorgasbord, a picnic, if …

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Taking the waters – err, no thanks

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There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. Like any right-minded middle-class girl, I went to the sea-side on my holidays. Shame it was the weekend where the south coast was beset with 45 …

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Etex buys Superglass

Theresa McLean new CEO of Superglass

Building materials manufacturer Etex has bought UK insulation producer Superglass. Superglass Insulation has 200 employees and operates a factory in Stirling, Scotland. The aquisition will expand Etex’s activities in the UK and complement the European sales and production network of its insulation division, which includes glass mineral wool and extruded polystyrene …

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Spend, spend, spend…actually, don’t

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Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery Has the UK home-owning love-affair with all-things DIY and renovation cooled? Have the charms of the new bathroom, the redesigned garden or the outdoor kitchen paled in …

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Browns Builders Merchants chooses Intact

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Derby-based family independent merchant Browns Builders Merchants, has taken on Intact’s merchant software. The company, which has been supplying building materials to both the trade and the public since 1990, recognised the need for a more efficient and streamlined solution to replace their outdated system. The decision to move to …

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