October saw the official foundation of the Builders Merchants Federation’s Northern Ireland Region, and the BMF is boosting support for its growing membership in Northern Ireland in a number of ways.
Eighteen people, including BMF MD, John Newcomb and Chairman, Peter Hindle MBE, attended the inaugural BMF NI Regional Meeting, which took place at Windsor Park, and was sponsored by Lagan Cement Products.
During the day, David Haldane was appointed as the BMF’s first ever Northern Ireland Regional Chairman. David is MD of Haldane Fisher, one of the region’s largest independent builders merchant’s with 10 of its 16 branches in Northern Ireland.
David Haldane said: “I am honoured to be the first NI Regional Chairman for the BMF. We had a fantastic response from merchants and suppliers to our first meeting, which offered many insights into the support the BMF can bring to all of us operating in Northern Ireland. There were useful discussions in the room and I am looking forward to playing my part in bringing even more members together for future meetings.”
During his visit to Northern Ireland John Newcomb also opened the latest BMF Regional Centre of Excellence at the Keystone Group’s design, production and distribution centre in Cookstown. This will provide ongoing meeting and training facilities for events in the region.
John Newcomb said: “I’m delighted that so many members from Northern Ireland are keen to participate and work with the BMF. A trade association is only as strong as its members and I am confident that our latest region will quickly form a cohesive group. We recognise that we must engage with our members in their back yard and our NI Regional Manager, Graham Bolton, will be working closely with our new regional chairman and Keystone, who have offered their superb facility as our first centre of excellence here, to ensure members can meet locally on a regular basis.”
