Professional Builders Merchant

With the Party Conference season having just finished and the Government’s 2010 Spending Review soon to be announced (at the time of writing), it is an apt moment for the Get Britain Building coalition to seek to raise awareness and gain more leverage with its latest initiative to promote the building industry and the contribution it can make to the UK’s economic recovery.

Following his stellar turn in Malta at THE Conference 2007, the opportunity to hear the Evening Standard’s Anthony Hilton speak at the recent BMF Members Day was too good to miss.

Bev James challenges merchants to adopt a more cohesive and integrated approach when it comes to using product data and IT systems to enhance any potential sale. It is something, she argues, that could have a real impact on your bottom line.

At business conferences, it is always enlightening to listen to the experiences of the star speakers; often inspirational, there is usually a positive and productive message to be taken away but I generally cringe when some attempt to make an invariably tenuous yet explicit link between their life story and the builders’ merchant sector.

Fiona Bashford asserts the importance of a well-considered ‘communications plan’ encompassing merchandising, staff training and stock levels.