profile
Ian Doherty is the Chief Executive of 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 is also currently 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 2024
Demand in the fastener and fixings sector has continued to follow the general trends across merchants, with soft demand driven by the sluggish levels of construction and RM&I activity. In spite of announcements by the Houthi rebels in Yemen on the back of the Israeli/Hamas ceasefire that they would not attack non-Israeli shipping, most container lines have decided to continue with the Cape of Good Hope route. With this supply chain stabilised, supplies continue to be stable both in terms of availability and pricing.
Following the election of Donald Trump in the US, the tariff situation is changing rapidly. At the time of writing, the impacts of US tariffs on the supply chain are yet to be fully understood. Increased tariffs on Chinese products may result in some shifting of production to other Far East sources, which, in turn, may affect sourcing for the UK. Given the extended supply chains for Far East sourced fasteners and fixings, we remain confident that these potential disruptions will not lead to major problems for UK supply.
Consultation is continuing on the introduction of a Carbon Border Adjustment Measure (CBAM) for the UK. This is currently planned for January 2027 and will levy a tax on imports of products with high embedded carbon content. In spite of lobbying to have downstream products, including fasteners and fixings excluded, as they do not form part of the Emissions Trading Scheme, it seems likely that they will be included and given that most are imported, it will result in higher prices in the UK. UK steel manufacturers are being very vocal in their support for these measures and are seeking as high levies as possible to be introduced even earlier.