profile
Ian Doherty is the Non-Executive Director of Hexstone and Owlett-Jaton, the UK and Ireland’s largest wholesaler of fasteners and fixings.
Following an extensive career in distributive businesses, Ian joined Owlett-Jaton in 2016. Ian brings a passion for customer service along with extensive hands-on experience in sales, marketing and supply chain operations.
In addition to his role at Owlett-Jaton, Ian was also the Chairman of the British and Irish Association of Fastener Distributors (BIAFD) and their representative to the European Federation of Distributor Associations (EFDA).
Owlett-Jaton
With a 30,000 SKU product range, Owlett-Jaton, the UK’s largest wholesaler of fasteners and fixings, supplies a comprehensive range of products to UK customers with next-day delivery. Established in 1947, Owlett-Jaton offers a complete wholesale solution to the builders’ merchant and distributor trade.
Among Owlett-Jaton’s well-known and trusted market-leading brands are the Unifix range of products, Vortex high-performance woodscrews, Thunderbolts and the extensive JCP range of specialist fixings. All products are backed up by technical support and endorsed by the company’s ISO 9001:2015 quality accreditation.
Owlett-Jaton is the only fastener and fixings wholesaler to have achieved the ISO 14001:2015 environmental accreditation and is continually striving to improve the sustainability of its operations and products.
Visit: www.owlett-jaton.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/owlett-jaton
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/jcp-construction-products
Launched in 2015, the award winning monthly Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) report is the only reliable measure of repair, maintenance & improvement (RMI) activity in the UK. Filling an important gap, it can be widely used in construction, and by economists, Government, national media, commentators and influencers outside the industry.
Owlett-Jaton Comment: Q4 2025
Demand within the fasteners and fixings sector continues to mirror wider merchant trends, with the construction market experiencing its longest sustained downturn since the financial crisis. While 2025 saw a modest increase in volumes across all fastener and fixing product groups, supported by continued growth in Q4, this improvement was not matched by profitability. Although prices stabilised for the first time during the year, this did not translate into meaningful margin recovery.
In a market where both sales value and volume remain under significant pressure, the central challenge is to maximise returns from the sales opportunities that remain. Looking to 2026, the outlook for fasteners and fixings is expected to follow a similar trajectory, closely linked to trends in manufacturing and the construction sector. There are reasons for cautious optimism. The Government’s ambition to deliver 300,000 new homes during this parliamentary term, while unlikely to be fully realised, should still result in meaningful progress that supports demand.
For Owlett-Jaton, brand development remains a core focus. This includes the continued strengthening of existing brands, alongside the evaluation and introduction of new products designed to meet evolving market needs driven by changes in regulation, compliance, and statutory requirements.
Momentum behind the Data Yard initiative, led by BMF and NMBS, is encouraging and increasingly aligned with the needs of the industry. Data Yard has the potential to simplify and ensure merchants have access to consistent, reliable information to better serve their customers, and Owlett-Jaton is proud to be an early adopter of this important initiative.
Compliance is a growing and complex challenge, with acronyms such as CBAM, EPD, DPP, CE, UKCA, TDS and ADD commonplace across the sector. As a supplier of more than 30,000 SKUs, staying ahead of these requirements is costly and time-intensive. To address this, Owlett-Jaton has invested heavily in the development of a comprehensive in-house Product Information Management (PIM) system, enabling a more efficient and structured approach to compliance management – no small undertaking at this scale.
Digital Product Passports (DPPs) are also approaching implementation. While the precise scope and requirements are yet to be fully defined for fasteners and fixings, Owlett-Jaton continues to enhance its PIM capabilities, expand batch-level data capture, and strengthen traceability processes to ensure long-term readiness.