24 to delivery or collection, significantly reducing the time and administration traditionally associated with sourcing replacement materials. Through live tracking and status updates, customers benefit from greater visibility throughout the order journey, while built-in communication tools enable faster collaboration between operatives, branches and planning teams.
News
New Chief Commercial Officer for STARK Building Materials UK
STARK Building Materials UK has appointed Jan Green as Chief Commercial Officer, strengthening its senior leadership team as the business continues to develop its commercial strategy and industry partnerships.
Jan brings more than 12 years’ experience in the building materials and distribution sector, having held senior commercial roles with other leading merchants. She has extensive expertise in developing supplier relationships, identifying opportunities for growth, and creating greater value for customers and commercial partners.
In her new role, Jan will focus on strengthening STARK UK’ s partnerships with suppliers and ensuring they have the support, insight and visibility needed to succeed in an evolving and challenging market.
MKM cruises to MasterMerchant victory
THIS year’ s BMF( Builders Merchants Federation) MasterMerchant competition saw teams from merchants and suppliers take on a series of physical challenges over one of the hottest weekends of the year.
The contest took place in Ingleton, North Yorkshire on
July 9th and saw teams try their hand at canyoning and caving, after scaling rocky outcrops as temperatures hit 29oC.
The winning team was‘ Colman’ s Crusaders’ from MKM Building Supplies( Norwich), who topped the table for the first time in 10 years.
New Freemen join WCoBM
FOUR new Freemen were admitted to the Worshipful Company of Builders’ Merchants( WCoBM) at a ceremony in July, taking the total number of Liverymen and Freemen to 263. They are:
• Andrew Griffiths of Boys & Boden Ltd
• Andrew McLellan of JW Grant Ltd
• David Pattison of Robert Price Builders’ Merchants Ltd
• Owen Thorogood of PPW Ltd.
The new Freemen were admitted as part of a special ceremony at Cutlers’ Hall.
Master Lucia Di Stazio comments:“ It is a real pleasure to welcome new
Freemen to the Livery and I congratulate them all. WCoBM represents key figures from across the building materials sector and our growing membership contributes greatly towards supporting the work of our Company, which includes philanthropy, investing in future talent and making a positive difference through our charitable donations.”
Beesley & Fildes launches automated concrete‘ drive-through’
Huws Gray Partnership Solutions launches Specials Management Hub
HUWS GRAY PARTNERSHIP SOLUTIONS has launched a pioneering new Specials Management Hub, designed to transform the way housing providers, local authorities and contractors source specialist and hard-to-find building products.
Currently being rolled out across Huws Gray Partnership Solutions’ nationwide account portfolio, the bespoke hub has been developed in-house to provide customers with a faster, simpler and more efficient way to manage specialist product requirements, helping streamline maintenance, refurbishment and repair projects.
The system provides a centralised platform for managing specialist orders from initial request through
24 to delivery or collection, significantly reducing the time and administration traditionally associated with sourcing replacement materials. Through live tracking and status updates, customers benefit from greater visibility throughout the order journey, while built-in communication tools enable faster collaboration between operatives, branches and planning teams.
The hub features AI-assisted image recognition capability, which means users can upload a photograph of a product requiring replacement, with the system generating a detailed product description to support accurate identification and ordering. This helps reduce the risk of mis-ordering while speeding up the sourcing process for operatives working in the field.
BEESLEY & FILDES has launched its first fully automated Fibo Collect batching plant at its Widnes branch, creating a new drive-through collection service designed to make smaller and medium-volume concrete, mortar and screed orders faster, easier and more cost-effective.
The striking new machine allows customers to order exactly the quantity of material they require, starting from just 0.25m ³, before collecting it directly from the branch using a trailer, flatbed vehicle or mortar tub.
For loads below 0.8m ³, the complete automated mixing and pouring process can take less than five minutes.
For Beesley & Fildes, the
investment represents a new approach to one of the construction industry’ s most familiar challenges: how to source relatively small quantities of freshly mixed material without the time involved in mixing it manually or the restrictions that can accompany conventional readymix deliveries.
James Beesley, Commercial Director at Beesley & Fildes, said:“ The role of a builders’ merchant is changing. Customers quite rightly expect us to do more than simply have products sitting on shelves or in the yard. They want us to help make their businesses more productive, reduce wasted time and find better ways of getting materials onto site.”