The Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) issued the following statement following the Conservative victory in the General Election.
BMF Managing Director, John Newcomb said:
“At a time when it is essential to keep Britain building, the BMF welcomes the country’s quick and decisive delivery of a stable majority Government and the builders merchant sector looks forward to working with it to ensure the continued growth of our economy and to help Britain build the homes it needs.
“Now the Government will need to meet voter expectations through more supply-side efforts to shorten the time it takes house builders to get started onsite, and accelerate the actual number of homes completed. The Builders’ Merchants Federation is seen as a valued and constructive partner in the sector and we look forward to supporting the new Government in this pursuit.”
The BMF had also welcomed the Conservatives manifesto pledge to reaffirm their support for apprenticeships. The BMF has long been committed to vocational training and skills, highlighted by its continuous career development programme including a Diploma and Foundation Degree.
Referring to this, John Newcomb added:
“The Government must now ensure that future funding provision is sufficiently attractive to encourage employers to invest in apprentices and provide high quality apprenticeship programmes. To ensure apprenticeships remain a key building block in supporting strong economic growth, we remind the Government that exemption from paying National Insurance contributions on earnings is a popular and effective incentive and we look forward to seeing how the proposed Apprenticeship Voucher scheme will contribute to this when further details are released.”
