News

Medite SmartPly agrees CSG partnership

Charlie Dawson, business development manager at Customs Support Group Ireland

  Medite SmartPly, a producer of sustainable MDF and OSB panels, has announced its collaboration with Customs Support Group (CSG), in order to boost its supply chain operations. CSG has utilised its AI capabilities to create an interface which integrates Medite SmartPly’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system with its customs …

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SDR hosts first ‘Company Day’

SDR highlights the importance of merchant drivers

Merchant driver agency, Specialist Driver Resourcing (SDR), has hosted its inaugural ‘Company Day’, to underline the business’s commitment to investing in its long-term specialist drivers. The celebration, hosted by SDR’s managing director, Simon Pritchard, was held at Millennium Point in Birmingham on January 2, and combined networking, discussion and professional …

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MKM announces Congleton branch

MKM opens major new Congleton builders’ merchant in the town

MKM Building Supplies (MKM) builders’ merchant, is set to open its brand-new Congleton branch on January 19 2026. The new site is MKM’s 136th branch and will create around 18 new jobs for local people, with further growth expected as the branch becomes established. Leading the new branch is branch …

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D W Burns employee steps in to assist BBC Scam Interceptors

D W Burns

D W Burns have honoured the actions of employee Max Morley, who recently assisted the BBC’s Scam Interceptors team alongside Amanda Holden in preventing a local resident from falling victim to fraud. The programme, which hunts down and combats scammers, contacted the branch after realising their team would not be …

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Easy-Trim bought by FP McCann

Easytrim

Lancashire based Easy-Trim Precast Roofing and Construction Products has been acquired from its administrators by concrete manufacturer FP McCann. In its latest results, to December 31 2023, Easy-Trim posted a turnover of £18.1m and pre-tax profits of £233,000. Headquartered in Northern Ireland, F P McCann turned over £415.3 million in …

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TRAILBLAZERS 2026: LAST CHANCE FOR INPUT

BMJ trailblazers 2026 copy

Calling all UK builders merchants with an annual turnover of more than £25m. BMJ needs your help in compiling the 2026 edition of Trailblazers, the industry’s leading benchmarking publication. This supplement, published with BMJ’s April issue, compares the top 50 or so merchants’ financial performance, across a range of KPIs, …

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DAB Pumps urges merchants to prioritise compliance

DAB Pumps

Water management manufacturer DAB Pumps is calling on UK and Irish merchants to take a firm stand against the distribution of non-compliant circulating pumps following a series of official safety warnings and enforcement notices issued in Ireland. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) in Ireland issued a Product Safety …

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Travis Perkins expands flagship Birmingham branch

Travis Perkins expands flagship Birmingham branch

Builders’ merchant Travis Perkins has expanded its Birmingham Central branch, more than doubling its size. The site, Located on South Road in Hockley, was previously an acre in size but it is now roughly 2.2 acres after work to improve its flagship Birmingham branch was completed in December 2025. The improved …

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PHMI October 2025 report

PHMI October 2025 Report

The latest figures from the Plumbing & Heating Merchant Index (PHMI) report show total value sales for October 2025 through specialist plumbing and heating merchants were up +0.8% compared to October 2024. Volume sales however, decreased -2.1% while prices increased +2.9% year-on-year. With one extra trading day in October, month-on-month …

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BMBI October 2025 report

BMBI October 2025 Report

The latest Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) report has been published, showing builders’ merchants’ total value sales in October 2025 were up +0.2% compared to the same month a year before.  Year-on-year volumes were also up +0.8%, but prices were down -0.6%, with no difference in trading days. Mike Rigby, …

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