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May/June 2021
both compelling and interesting. The highly contentious debate on housing is back on the agenda. HAI have a working group looking at building costs and the impact of the new builds on our sector on page 35. We take an initial look at what the implications of all of this is on the costs of new builds - and it may not be what you think. From our viewpoint, as measured solely by purchasing patterns, home ownership is much preferable to rental. Those who own their homes are much more likely to invest in home improvements than those renting. Also, in this issue Shane Kenneally has let us track the ups and downs of a major refurbishment of his house in Clonakilty. During May we had a very successful meeting of the Member Services Sub-committee. A major recommendation is that HAI go ahead and launch The Certificate in Hardware and Merchanting as soon as feasible. Tullamore Men’s Sheds had a burglary recently. Many thanks to Burg Wachter, Husqvarna and Sika who very kindly answered the call. Finally, at last glance 95% of space at The Hardware Show in November is taken so if you have not booked, now may be the time.
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With the effects of the vaccine roll-out beginning to subdue the virus and the re-opening of many businesses, there is definitely an air of Spring and its optimism about. It is great to see construction in particular residential construction back at full tilt. Normality is in sight but what this new normality will look like is anyone’s guess. The debate on the nature of work is ongoing and may become contentious. It will be interesting to see if we end up with more home working or hybrid working or we all head back to our offices. The hybrid model could mitigate some of our housing shortages however as one Wall Street CEO said recently - “people don’t like commuting, but so what”. We will see. Two trends we can be sure of - the move to digital and the move towards reducing our carbon footprint. It was great to see Topline Rogers getting a mention as a progressive eCommerce business in a Sunday newspaper recently. On 6th May last HAI hosted an online conference - Rebuilding our Future - Retrofitting. It was highly informative and thoughtprovoking. We carry a full report on pages 38-39. Our sector has been a bright spot in the economy, and it will continue to be as demand continues. However, as we go to press it is experiencing chronic problems in supply. A confluence of largely global factors are at play. The closure of factories due to the pandemic, Brexit, Suez, early mild weather in Russia, storms in Texas, and a likely element of stock hoarding are all contributing to this bottleneck. And, as if this wasn’t enough it comes at a time when demand across the globe is soaring - in particular in the US. President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion recovery package - is resulting in US firms paying top dollar for materials. As night follows day, we are seeing price increases practically across the board. In this issue we have the first of two interviews with another son of Mayo - Patrick Goldrick who began his career in 1962 with Joseph Murphys (Ballina) and Thomas Archers and retired in 2012 as MD of Cashbuild after a very successful career in both the UK and South Africa. Patrick’s story is
Martin Markey Chief Executive Officer - HAI
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