Press

Knauf Insulation Debates Industry Issues and Trends in 4th BMBI Round Table

By Knauf Insulation UK & Ireland
January 15, 2020

Our Technical & Strategy Director Steven Heath recently took part in the Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) fourth Round Table Debate.

The debate took place in December 2019, hosted at Geberit HQ in Warwick. Steven represented Managing Director Neil Hargreaves as the BMBI Expert for Mineral Wool Insulation.

The BMBI is a brand of the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) and the annual debate is organised for BMBI Experts to discuss topical issues, and the implications for our industry. Neil Lawrence, COO of Jewson, represented builders’ merchants and Mike Rigby, CEO of MRA Marketing (creators of BMBI) joined the BMBI Experts. The debate was chaired by Jennie Ward on behalf of Builders’ Merchants News (BMN).

Five main topics were covered:

  1. The climate change agenda & environmental legislation
  2. Economic confidence & Politics!
  3. Changes in buyer behaviour and how we sell
  4. Changing Regulations, changing building practices, changing priorities
  5. Merchants and distribution - where next?

The debate will be reported in the January, February and March issues of BMN. It was videoed in full and each video topic will be uploaded to the BMBI website from February 2020.

Other BMBI Experts that took part included: Andy Simpson, Packed Products Director Hanson Cement; Derrick McFarland, Managing Director Keystone Lintels; John Duffin, Managing Director Keylite Roof Windows; Malcolm Gough, Group Sales & Marketing Director Talasey Group; Mike Tattam, Sales & Marketing Director Lakes; Mike Beard, Merchant Development Director Encon Insulation; Nigel Cox, Managing Director Timbmet; John Coe, Commercial Director Alumasc Water Management Solutions (AWMS); Simon Taylor, Director of Sales Ibstock Brick and Jeff House, Head of External Affairs, Baxi Heating UK.

The BMBI is a reliable and up-to-date measure of Britain’s Repair Maintenance & Improvement (RMI) activity. The quarterly and monthly reports use GfK’s Builders Merchant Point of Sales Tracking Data, which analyses sales-out data from over 80% of generalist builders’ merchants’ sales across Great Britain.

The Experts speak exclusively for their markets, adding perspective and context to the data  while also explaining trends, issues and opportunities.

Visit www.bmbi.co.uk to download the latest BMBI reports or learn more about each Expert. Follow @TheBMBI on Twitter.