The Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) has teamed up with AkzoNobel to host its latest Regional Centre of Excellence, alongside announcing the launch of a new Decorating Forum to bring together members with responsibility for paint and decorative products.

The Dulux Academy in Slough will host the BMF’s southeast regional meetings and training sessions. It will also host the first meeting of the BMF’s Decorating Forum in May.

The Dulux Academy opened last year as a training academy for painters and decorators, and is equipped to teach design and application techniques as well as skills to build, run and promote a successful business to over 4,000 trainees each year.

Gary Good, lightside group product manager at Ridgeons will chair BMF’s Decorating Forum. In addition to his responsibility for the Ridgeon Group’s hardware and decorating ranges, he is the category director responsible for the paint and decorative sector for the Fortis buying group.

John Newcomb, managing director of the BMF, said: “This is a truly superb facility and I’m delighted that AkzoNobel has opened their doors to host both our regional events and the BMF’s Decorating Forum, which is an exciting new venture for 2017. Mr Good is the ideal chair for this group, both for his knowledge of the sector and the breadth of his contacts among merchants and suppliers with an interest in decorating products.”