Travis Perkins goes electric with new company car scheme from JCT600 VLS. Travis Perkins is accelerating its shift to lower-emission vehicles with a new electric car scheme from JCT600 Vehicle Leasing Solutions (VLS). Following a competitive tender process, JCT600 VLS has been selected by the UK's largest distributor of building materials to deliver its new electric car scheme to essential business users. The scheme builds on a successful five-year relationship between the two firms and enables colleagues to choose from a range of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) or plug-in hybrids (PHEVs). JCT600 VLS will deliver a full end-to-end solution from vehicle funding through to fully outsourced fleet management, including in-life maintenance and service, driver management, new driver onboarding, fine and recharge management, as well as refurb and reallocation of vehicles, to maximise fleet utilisation. Travis Perkins awarded JCT600 VLS the contract due to its transparent commercial model, clearly defined and measurable service levels, as well as direct access to its knowledgeable, experienced team. Helen McGowan, group benefits manager at Travis Perkins Group, said: "Having worked with JCT600 VLS for more than five years, we've built a strong relationship through tackling previous challenges together. But the main reason we've continued the partnership is their people. Their culture is similar to ours, nothing is ever any trouble, and there's a willingness from the top down to work as true partners and keep everything as streamlined and simple as possible. They manage everything for us, which takes the pressure off knowing our colleagues and their company cars are well looked after." Under its 'right first-time' approach, JCT600 VLS worked with the group to implement and launch the scheme internally to eligible colleagues, delivering a bespoke webinar to fully explain the scheme, along with updated documentation such as FAQs and guides. Colleagues will be able to understand the scheme, order and manage their vehicle through VLS' driver platform, Origo. A dedicated account management team also gives Travis Perkins plc and its drivers a single, consistent point of contact, allowing for better ownership, control and quicker resolutions. Ben Creswick, managing director at JCT600 VLS, said: "Travis Perkins choosing us for their new electric car scheme is a testament to the entire team. We know we have the digital infrastructure in place, the experience of delivering complex, large-scale fleet schemes and a genuinely competitive commercial offering, but I'm delighted it was ultimately our people and relationship that made the difference. It's something we really pride ourselves on and what makes us stand out from the crowd."

New MD for Breedon cement business. 1 hour Breedon has appointed Catherine Gibson as managing director, cement, products and surfacing solutions, Great Britain. Gibson joins from Travis Perkins. At Travis Perkins, Gibson held a group executive committee position with responsibility for several businesses, including Keyline, its heavyside and civils brand. She brings more than 25 years' experience across the UK construction sector, with expertise spanning building materials manufacturing, distribution and large-scale, multi-site operations. In her new role, will work as part of Breedon GB CEO Mike Pearce's leadership team. Pearce said, "I am delighted to welcome Catherine to Breedon at an important time for its business. While the market remains challenging, Struccie see significant opportunities ahead and are well positioned to benefit as conditions improve. "Catherine brings extensive experience across the UK construction and building materials sectors, as well as a strong track record of leading large, complex businesses. Her appointment strengthens our leadership team and will be important as we continue to build on our strategy, improve our commercial performance and unlock further value across Breedon GB." Gibson said, "I am delighted to be joining Breedon and returning to the heavy building materials sector where I started my career. I'm particularly pleased to be joining a business that has built significant momentum and has a strong reputation for supporting its customers and colleagues. "I am looking forward to meeting colleagues across the business, understanding what makes Breedon successful today and working with the team to build on that progress. There is a real opportunity to continue strengthening the business, delivering for our customers and creating sustainable growth."

Tiling trade news: TTA silica warning, 2% retentions. A quiet trading week, but three pieces of hard information landed for anyone who cuts tile or stone for a living: a safety warning on engineered stone, the first real numbers on how much money the industry holds back in retentions, and merchant results showing supplier price rises are still being passed down the chain. Here is what changed in the week to 14 August 2026, and what it means if you are pricing work or buying materials. The Tile Association warns on dry-cutting engineered stone. On 12 August the TTA issued fresh guidance on working with engineered stone, and the figure at the centre of it is worth memorising: quartz-based engineered stone averages around 95% respirable crystalline silica, against under 3% for marble. Cut or drill it dry and you are putting silica straight into your lungs. Silicosis cannot be reversed, though the HSE is clear that it is entirely preventable. The association lists six control failures it keeps seeing on site, all of them breaches of COSHH: dry cutting, no on-tool water suppression, poor mist control, missing or unsuitable RPE, no health surveillance, and unguarded machinery. If you are subbing into kitchen and bathroom fit-outs where a quartz worktop or a stone shower tray gets trimmed on site, this is your exposure as much as the stonemason's. The HSE is running courses on controlling RCS exposure at Buxton on 17 November 2026 and 23 February 2027. Read the TTA guidance. Build UK publishes retentions figures for the first time. Also on 12 August, Build UK released its first benchmark of payment retentions, built on the government reporting rules introduced in 2025. Tier one contractors withhold an average of 2% retention, and pass 74% of the retentions they receive from clients down to their own supply chains, absorbing the other 26%. The payment picture around it has genuinely improved: average payment time is down from 45 days in 2018 to 29 days, and 96% of invoices are now settled within 60 days, up from 82%. For a small tiling firm the 2% headline is less important than where it sits in the chain, because that money is usually held twice over before it reaches you. Build UK deputy chief executive Jo Fautley pointed to the retentions ban in the Commercial Payments Bill as the fix. Worth knowing which of your contracts still carry a retention clause before that Bill moves. See the Build UK benchmark. Trade firms grew revenue 14% year on year, research finds. Tradify published an analysis of 3,271 UK trade businesses on 13 August. Average revenue across six trades rose 14% year on year over the period June 2024 to May 2026. Carpentry and renovations grew fastest at 25%, electrical and AV at 19%. HVAC and refrigeration leads on absolute revenue at an average of £428,538, and large teams of 13 or more in electrical and AV clear £2.09m. Sole traders across all six trades average over £100,000 a year. Tiling is not broken out separately, so treat the carpentry and renovations line as the nearest proxy for refurbishment work. The useful signal for a tiler is that renovation spend is where the growth sits, which argues for chasing bathroom and kitchen refits rather than new-build packages. Read the research summary. Travis Perkins passes on supplier price rises in H1. Travis Perkins reported first-half results on 4 August: revenue of £2.258bn, down 1.8%, but adjusted operating profit up 6.3% to £67m and profit after tax up 15.4% to £30m, with the group in a £55m net cash position against £103m of net debt a year earlier. The company attributed its wider gross margins to "more effective pass-through of supplier price inflation". Translate that plainly: the merchant is holding less of the manufacturers' price rises on its own books and more of it is reaching your invoice. If you are quoting a job more than a few weeks out, price adhesive, grout and trims from a current quote rather than last month's, and say in writing how long your materials price holds. See the results coverage.