News

Tile specialist Topps Tiles has posted a 17.% drop in revenue for the second quarter of 2021, blaming the sales slide on the third lockdown. For the 26 weeks up to March 27, total revenues were £103.6m, up 2%. The first quarter grew 19.9%, then sales dropped by 17.3%. Rob …

An independent plumbing and heating firms  has figured out a novel way to get football fans back into the main stand at Turf Moor, home of Premier League team Burnley FC. An imaginative community project, instigated by James Hargreaves Plumbing Depot, has resulted in a new generation of ‘supporter’ – …

Polypipe has taken a controlling interest in pultrusion and compression moulding manufacturer, Plura Innovations, expanding its expertise in advanced materials technology. Plura will be integrated into the Polypipe Infrastructure & Landscape division, enhancing its manufacturing capabilities and broadening its product offer to include access chambers and specialist ducting systems along …

Keyline Civils Specialist, the largest supplier of civils and drainage products and solutions in the UK, is investing in its service to the East Midlands with its newly refurbished branch in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire opening on the 29th March 2021. Keyline’s two and a half acre site in Kirkby-in-Ashfield will hold …

The Government has pulled the plug on its Green Homes Grant energy efficiency scheme, just days after MPs slammed it as ‘woefully inadequate’.  First announced last summer, the GHG scheme was extended in November for another year until the end of March 2022. It was supposed to form part of the Government’s …

Building materials distributor SIG saw sales fall 13% to £1,974m for the year to December 31 2020, taking it into a pre-tax loss of £76.3m from a £17.7m profit last time. That said, the group reported a strong finish to 2020, ahead of expectations, with like-for-like sales up 4% in …

A chartered surveyor who was left paralysed after a fall has had his home transformed by industry charity Band of Builders and a range of manufacturers, merchants and volunteer tradesmen. Rob Lamb, 58, suffered a severe spinal cord injury when he fainted due to low blood pressure at home in …

Specialist independent distributors Encon Insulation and Nevill Long have opened a new Nevill Long branch in Thetford, Norfolk. The Burrell Way Trade Park branch offers a complete range of leading interior brands available through Nevill Long including British Gypsum, Ecophon, Fermacell, Knauf, Knauf Ceiling Solutions, Rockfon, Siniat and Zentia | …

  John George, the family-run wholesale distributor that’s been going since 1725, has joined forces formally with fellow long-running distributor Henry Shaw & Sons. Having worked closely together for more than two decades, the two companies are now coming together under common ownership, reversing a demerger that took place in …

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a further event to be cancelled. Independent builders merchant buying group NMBS has announced the cancellation of its 2021 Dinner Dance. The event is regarded as one of the best social events in the industry, and usually sees 1200 guests come together at the Grosvenor …