Tag Archives: Government

Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) report reveals builders’ merchants’ value sales in Q4 2023 were -5.7% down compared to Q4 2022, with volume sales falling -12.0% and prices rising +7.1%. It also stated that with one more trading day in Q4 2023, like-for-like sales (which take the number of trading …

Prime minister Rishi Sunak and chancellor of the exchequer Jeremy Hunt visited Selco Builders Warehouse on one of the most significant days in the political calendar. Sunak and Hunt were welcomed into Selco’s Old Kent Road branch just hours after the Spring Budget were delivered to the House of Commons. …

The Builder’s Merchant Federation’s (BMF) CEO, John Newcomb, has expressed his disappointment with the chancellor’s Spring budget. He explained that the budget is a “missed opportunity to get Britain building again”, and is designed to buy short term electronical support as opposed to promoting the long-term economic success of the …

Like most of those who study history, Napoleon III learned from the mistakes of the past how to make new ones. Pop Quiz hot shots: What had an investment of £1bn, yet in the first eight months has only achieved less than 1% of its stated aim. Go on I bet you can’t. …

Homes England is to pilot selling parcels of land for SMEs to build new homes in the Southeast and the Midlands. Housing and levelling up secretary Michael Gove announced the initiative earlier this week in a statement to parliament outlining his plans for long-term housing. Gove said: “”We are determined …

The UK has entered a recession with gross domestic production (GDP) shrinking by 0.3% in the final three months of 2023, which followed a 0.1% contraction in the July-September period – according to the Office for National Statistics. The news comes at bad time for builders’ merchants as construction output …

The government has announced that every council in England will be told that they will need to prioritise brownfield developments and instructed to be less bureaucratic and more flexible in applying policies that halt housebuilding on brownfield land. The bar for refusing brownfield plans will also be made much higher …

The Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) has called on the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, to invest in property repair, maintenance and improvement to create purposeful jobs in every region and boost much-needed local growth across the country. The government has previously announced increased spending on energy efficiency for homes, businesses, and public …

Travis Perkins has revealed it axed jobs at the end of last year and stated it plans to make further cuts as a result of a slowdown in construction. The Group, which also own Toolstation, mainly cut jobs at its Northampton headquarters and its central support teams – some of …

S&P Global/CIPS UK Construction PMI data for December 2023 has once again shown a fall in UK construction output. However, with the latest figures indicating that the rate of decline is easing, there is renewed positivity that 2024 may see some improvement in conditions, stated the Federation of Master Builders …