by Clair Mooney | 23 May, 2022 | Main News Feed
In this landmark marketing report, NBS and Glenigan deliver the results of their first joint marketing survey, the ‘Construction Manufacturers’ Marketing Index’.
The report covers:
- Trends for using particular channels or tools
- Differences in approach within the industry and how it compares with other industries
- Experiences and methods used by different companies
- Marketing budgets – and how they are being applied across marketing channels
It also contains people’s perceptions of marketing in construction, and what the future marketing landscape could look like for the industry.
FIS Chief Executive Iain McIlwee said:
“It is ever more interesting to compare how communication is developing. Design and specification continues to evolve almost as fast as the channels and methods open to reach them – it isn’t getting any easier to target information in the right format in order to win and protect specifications. It is great to be collaborating with Glennigans, NBS and other leading trade bodies to deepen our understanding and help better target resources of our members”.
This report is incredibly valuable to those supplying products to the construction industry: a way of benchmarking your marketing against others and, perhaps, learning something new that you can apply in the year ahead.
by Oscar Venus | 20 May, 2022 | Main News Feed
As you will have no doubt seen in recent news, the Government has announced it will introduce legislation to fix the Northern Ireland Protocol, which will act as a safeguard should the UK be unable to agree proposals with the EU through negotiations.
The legislation being introduced would remove customs processes for goods moving within the United Kingdom. It will allow businesses to choose to follow either UK or EU regulations under a dual regulatory approach, removing barriers to goods made to UK standards from being sold in Northern Ireland and cutting the processes that drive up costs and disincentives businesses. The legislation will fix issues so that people in Northern Ireland can benefit from the same tax and spend policies as everyone else in the UK. The UK has also made clear that goods which are destined for the EU will continue to undergo full processes applied under EU law as they do now and apply safeguards to avoid non-compliant products entering the EU Single Market.
You do not need to take any action now as we will continue to operate within current “standstill” arrangements, meaning you can move goods in exactly the same way as you do today, including existing grace periods and easements. Furthermore, you can continue to trade frictionlessly across the island of Ireland. The UK Government will be working closely with businesses as the new arrangements are developed and will communicate how any changes will work well before any changes come into effect.
Office for Product Safety and Standards
by Clair Mooney | 13 May, 2022 | Main News Feed
The FIS Contractors Awards showcase the very best of our industry and after months of project visits, we are excited to announce that our judges have determined their shortlist.
To see who made the shortlist click here
The FIS Contractors Awards aim to promote and encourage high levels of craftsmanship in the finishes and interiors sector. The standard of entries into this year’s Contractors Awards was extremely high, so congratulations to all companies that entered.
The winners in each category, along with the the architect or interior designer of the winning project, will be announced in front of a packed audience at the FIS Awards Lunch on 9 June at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. The event is now sold-out, so if you would like to attend but haven’t yet booked, get in touch with clairmooney@thefis.org and we will add you to the waiting list.
by Clair Mooney | 12 May, 2022 | Main News Feed
Due to the unprecedented situation in Ukraine, which has led to a growing list of sanctions against Russia and Belarus, Build UK will be adding a new question to the Common Assessment Standard to enable the construction supply chain to demonstrate that it is not dealing with any companies or individuals subject to the UK Sanctions List. Version 3.1 will be published on 1 July and suppliers will be required to answer the new question when they next go through the certification process for the Common Assessment Standard.
We are continuing to roll out the Common Assessment Standard across the industry and our new infographic shows how it is improving efficiency and reducing cost in the pre‐qualification (PQ) process.
by Clair Mooney | 12 May, 2022 | Main News Feed, Material Shortages
Statement from John Newcomb, CEO of the Builders Merchants Federation and Peter Caplehorn, CEO of the Construction Products Association, co-chairs of the Construction Leadership Council’s Product Availability working group
With the Product Availability Group having met only three weeks ago, there has been little change in respect of overall product supply since our last report, although the conflict in Ukraine is likely to affect some timber supplies later in the year. There is a good supply of most products and materials but, as previously reported, ongoing challenges continue to affect bricks, aircrete blocks, concrete products, PIR insulation products and gas boilers all of which are on long lead times.
Most wood products, including structural timber, are fully stocked. While structural softwood will remain fully available, the availability of some other product groups, whose use is concentrated in the joinery, shopfitting and finishing sectors rather than housing, is less certain given their greater reliance on raw material supplies from Russia and Belarus. The most critical is Birch plywood, which will become increasing scarce as summer progresses as outside of Russia there is only limited production from Europe, principally Finland. If the UK market is offered Birch Plywood for later in the year from the Far East, it will be based on Russian Birch logs and will be illegal to import.
Although Siberian Larch cladding will disappear from the market eventually, there are plenty of alternative cladding sources. Similarly, there are alternatives to Russian redwood and whitewood used principally in joinery and shopfitting, although these are generally more expensive.
Some PAG members reported initial signs of a slowing market. These reports are corroborated by recent published data from Glenigan, pointing to a slowdown in starts on site during the three months to April 2022. These data points suggest that inflationary pressures are starting to influence client decisions in some sectors, continuing the trend seen with softening retail sales over the last few months.
Most regions are still reporting strong demand on the trade side, particularly from larger housebuilders and for infrastructure projects including road building. SME contractors, however, are concerned that local authorities may delay regeneration projects until they can achieve more price certainty through the procurement process. We have also heard of delayed start dates for specialist trades at the end of the product building cycle, that may indicate projects continuing at a slower pace, which may impact both productivity and cash flow.
Price inflation remains a critical issue. We have previously reported the impact of rising energy, fuel and raw material costs on product price, and the latest data published by BEIS shows that annual material price inflation increased to over 24% in March for a basket of materials. With further restrictions on Russian gas and oil imports across Europe we expect that energy price movements will continue to be unpredictable. Some merchants and producers have also reported impacts on the availability of products caused by the outbreak of Covid in China and the restrictions imposed in response to this, which is affecting manufacturing and shipping from Shanghai. Wage inflation is a further concern within the supply chain, with pay rises necessary to secure labour.
Those pay raises have helped to somewhat ameliorate the shortage of HGV drivers, with reports of a record number of HGV drivers taking their tests and estimates that the driver shortfall has reduced from 100,000 at its peak to 65,000.
Despite this, the high costs and risks around haulage and shipping persist; we note reports that some European lorry manufacturers are not taking orders either because backlogs were problematic or pricing of input materials for new vehicles was proving too uncertain. This may put greater pressure on companies to maximise the efficiency of their fleet and keep vehicles for longer than anticipated. Construction product manufacturers and distributors are amongst the largest users of the UK’s road network.
In regards to global shipping, the price of moving a container from the Far East to Europe has dropped as much as 25% from its high at the start of the year, but many forecasters believe that the elevated costs and volatile delivery schedules caused by the container crisis will nonetheless carry on to mid-2023.
The conflict in Ukraine continues to affect certain product areas, as detailed in our last two reports (21 April and 28 March). We are undertaking a horizon scanning exercise to determine the likely extent of disruption particularly in relation to clay, ceramics, electrical products, and raw materials for steel and other production, as well as impact on energy costs.
by Clair Mooney | 12 May, 2022 | Main News Feed
The Covid-related relaxation to the rules on claiming expenses for working from home has now been abolished. What this means is that if your employees *can* work from home if they choose but you have not *required* them to work from home, they can no longer claim home office expenses (they should check their 2022-23 notice of coding).
There is a clear statement from HMRC that “You cannot claim tax relief if you choose to work from home” which you can find here and there is a “check your status” tool employees can complete for themselves here.
May is a busy month of deadlines which members are encouraged to factor into their planning.
- 19 May If you are not paying electronically, this is the deadline for PAYE/NICs/CIS/Student Loan for the month ended 5/5 and for CIS returns. These payments need to clear HMRC’s bank account by 22 May.
- 31 May deadline for employees to have received P60s from their employers.
- 31 May Companies House should have received 31/8/2021 private company accounts and 31/11/2021 accounts for plcs.
- 31 May CT self-assessment returns for companies with accounting periods to 31 May 2021.
This issue of Newsline, exclusively available to FIS members, also includes as update on when a non-construction business can be “deemed” to be within CIS, avoidance schemes and National Insurance Contributions. Read the latest issue here.
