Building Supplies company, Howarth Timber and Building Supplies welcomed a visit from local MP Mary Creagh to their Wakefield branch. Mary is also the chair of the Environmental Audit Committee and visited the Doncaster site as part of her support for a low carbon Industrial Strategy and property-funded Growth Deal for Yorkshire.
The Local MP met with a range of different people during her visit and tour around the two and a quarter acre site. The Branch Manager David Storey offered Mary a summary of the investments that have been made by Howarth Timber and Building Supplies into their Howarth at Home kitchen, bedroom and bathroom showrooms which has improved customer order fulfillment.
The Wakefield MP also met with a number of young people who are benefitting from the graduate scheme that has been set up by the building supplies company. Discussions about how the 177-year-old company has evolved over the years in order to deal with modern construction industry challenges were also had with the managing director, Nick Howarth and the marketing and product development manager Neale Brewster.
Howarth Timber and Building Supplies is a company that could be impacted by upcoming changes such as Brexit, the skills gap and the imminent introduction of Clean Air Zones. This could also have a knock on effect on smaller construction companies and contractors who rely on Howarth as a local builders’ merchant.
The visit by the local MP was arranged as a part of the Builders’ Merchants’ Federation, or the BMF, as a part of its industry and parliamentary programme. Through this programme the BMF takes MPs to visit merchants working in their constituency in order to show them how the building materials supply chain can benefit the local communities. The BMF represents 600 merchants and manufacturers across the UK and has seen UK sales have increased by 5.3% in the second quarter of 2017.
