Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
Jackson Buildbase has been crowned this year’s BMF MasterMerchant champions following two days of closely contested physical and mental challenges in the Lake District countryside.
The winning team, who called themselves the ‘Aces of Base’, fought off competition from last year’s winners Simpson & Allinson, who took the runners up prize just ahead of third placed J T Atkinson.
The winning team, one of three that competed from Jackson Buildbase, comprised of Steven Dawber, Chris Newstead, Craig Harrison and Craig Gration who work together at the Skegness branch.
The weekend is an intense team experience that aims to bring colleagues closer together and it was a full house this year with fifteen teams taking part.
As well as the physical challenge of rock climbing, abseiling, canoeing and gorge walking, the teams tackled a variety of tasks that challenged their teamwork, communication and problem solving skills. These saw the teams working together to construct a device to fire tennis balls, find a safe path through a maze of stepping stones and retrieve floats from a long tube that leaked water as it was poured in.
Assistant branch manager and winning team member Steven Dawber, said: “This is the second time that the Skegness team has taken part in MasterMerchant and it was a fantastic achievement to come out as winners. The challenges were all great fun in their own way, some fried your brain, others your body, putting people way out of their comfort zone. Once again the event proves how great team spirit between all the teams brings about the right result.”
BMF Chairman, Peter Hindle, joined managing director John Newcomb to present the prizes with each team member receiving a plaque to commemorate their participation in the competition and a glass trophy for the winning team. The official winner’s shield will be formally presented at BMF Members’ Day in September when the date of next year’s competition will also be announced.
BMF MD, John Newcomb said: “After seeing this amazing event for the first time last year, I knew it would be an excellent vehicle for BMF’s relatively new team and I was delighted to see so many others join in the contest this year. I think it is the first time the competition has been full to capacity, which made it an even better experience for everyone involved. It’s not only a fantastic team building exercise, but also a great way for teams from merchants and suppliers to get to know each other better.”
