UK: With falling orders and enquiries, the conditions for construction are likely to continue to deteriorate during 2010, according to the Construction Products Association.

Freelance

Building Products

Adomast Ltd

NUNEATON: Midlands-based lightside merchant, Stuart Plumbing & Heating Supplies has joined the Cemco buying group.

UK: The JOSB Done industry-wide campaign is entering its fifth year, championing the uses and benefits of oriented strand board.

UK: From 1 April, householders or communities who install low carbon electricity technology – solar, photovoltaic panels or turbines up to 5mW – will be paid for the electricity that is generated, even if it is only used by themselves.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE: The Melcourt professional range of bagged landscape and play products is set be stocked by more members of the h&b Group after a recommendation from Branch Brothers of Lincolnshire.

LONDON: The release of the updated Part L Building Regulations will probably be announced at EcoBuild in March, according to a report issued from the Builders’ Merchants Federation.

LEICESTER: The BSS Group has announced that it has acquired UGS, specialist distributor of below ground drainage and civils equipment to specialist contractors.

LONDON: A special Parliamentary Luncheon was held today by the National Home Improvement Council specifically aimed at promoting water conservation and energy efficiency.

MARKINCH: Timber importer and distributor James Donaldson Timber have started the year with a celebration following its big win at the NBG Supplier of the Year Awards.

PRESTON: Border Merchant system is delighted to welcome Page & Taylor as its latest CounterAct user.

Page & Taylor is a modern timber merchant with 20 000 square foot sales area capable of dealing with both the building and DIY trade.

LANCASHIRE: The arsonist imprisoned for setting fire to Darwen Building and Timber Supplies is in the news again for using Facebook to boast about getting drunk while behind bars.

CRAWLEY: Redland, one the UK’s leading solar-renewable roofing suppliers, has welcomed this week’s government announcement on Feed in Tariffs, which are designed to incentivise small scale, low carbon electricity generation.

BIRMINGHAM: Innovation will be at the heart of this year's Totally Shows at the NEC on 7-9 February and the central feature is designed to give an overview of the new products that will be available.

DEREHAM: Zip Heaters has announced the acquisition of Southport-based Instanta, which manufactures and markets instant boiling water products for catering and commercial use.

DUBLIN: The Society of Chartered Surveyors predicted that 40 000 more jobs will be lost in the property and construction sector throughout 2010.

WOLVERHAMPTON: Staff at Carvers Building Supplies were certainly getting in to the spirit of things during their recent Electric 80's themed Bonanza Day promotion.

NEWCASTLE: Housebuilder, Bellway forecast "subdued" sales in the second half of this year because of the dearth of mortgage finance.

LEAMINGTON SPA: Wolseley has opened a dedicated integrated supply chain store to service its new customer, the Tingdene Group, after securing a solus supply deal with the company worth around £4m a year.

GLASGOW: BSS Industrial celebrated the strengthening of its BSS Drainage brand with the launch of a second standalone branch.

WEST YORKSHIRE: Leyland Trade's fundraising push for Help for Heroes over the past 12 months culminated in a major donation to the charity.

WORCESTER: The start of 2010 brought some of the worst cold and snow that the UK has seen for a number of years. While the rest of the UK cried out in disappointment, for Carl Arntzen, director of Bosch Thermotechnology at Worcester, Bosch Group, the temperature was the perfect grounding to begin training preparations for his most arduous physical challenge – climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

BIRMINGHAM: HRA Builders' Merchants was fined £11 585 including costs for using an unsafe mezzanine floor.

LONDON: Official figures revealed by the Government have shown that more than 210 000 people are seeking work in the construction industry.

EDINBURGH: The boiler scrappage scheme running in England is set to extend to Scotland and Wales.

LEITH: The Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA) has acquired three development sites in Leith, at a cost of £2.5m, with a view to investing a further £20m to create 165 new homes on them.

NORTHAMPTON: Travis Perkins has raised over £850 000 for UK charities Action for Children and Mencap.

LUTTERWORTH: PTS has launched an online service which allows account customers to order products anytime, day or night.

WORCESTER: npower's hometeam reported a has seen a six-fold increase in customers enquiring about replacement or new boilers since the announcement of the Government's boiler scrappage scheme.

LONDON: UK construction activity declined at a weaker pace at the start of 2010. The seasonally adjusted CIPS/Markit Construction Purchasing Managers' Index...

UK: With news that the country is officially out of recession, the latest figures on commercial debt from Lovetts, a major debt recovery law firm, reveals a fall of 28% in the value of commercial debt being experienced by its customers in Q4 2009, compared to Q4 2008.

SUTTON COLDFIELD: Barclays has provided Waterloo Housing Group with £100m in new debt finance to support the company’s goal of building 3000 affordable homes.

BILSTON: Mueller Europe, manufacturers of Wednesbury Streamline copper tube, has achieved ISO 14001 accreditation, further enhancing the company’s green credentials.

WORCESTER: The Government’s plans for a Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), which will encourage householders to install renewable technologies to generate domestic heat, could be left dead in the water by regulatory red tape which is discouraging installers from going green.

BRISTOL: SIG Sustainable Solutions has welcomed the publication of the Government's Feed in Tariff (FIT), designed to incentivise homeowners and businesses to adopt micro-generation to create green electricity. The FIT kicks in on April 1 2010 and will pay investors for the electricity generated from low carbon energy sources.

LONDON: Taylor Maxwell Timber has announced that it is to join the Timber Trade Federation.

MARLOW: Ryobi Power Tools, one of the UK’s chief power tool manufacturers, has signed DIY star Craig Phillips as its new ambassador for the brand.

DUBLIN: A high court judge described as 'astonishing' two companies undertaking construction and other works with an alleged value of €48m at a major development at Baldoyle in Dublin without any formal contract.

LONDON: Inhospitable bank lending conditions prompted 28% of business owners to turn to friends, relatives, and company directors to secure funding for their business, said a survey.

LONDON: Retailers could suffer a relapse with deteriorating trading this year, as rising taxes, interest rates and the uncertainty over the next government's economic policy takes its toll on consumer spending.

MANCHESTER: ToolBank, Lafarge Cement, and Donaldson Timber received supplier of the year awards at the NBG gala last week.