NMBS Dinner Dance raises £8,000 for CRASH and Maddie Rose Foundation

The 2026 NMBS Dinner Dance raised £8,000 for construction charity CRASH and the Maddie Rose Foundation on Saturday 24 October, when around 1,000 guests from the building materials industry gathered at Grosvenor House in London.

CRASH said guests donated close to £7,000 during the evening and that NMBS, the National Merchant Buying Society, rounded the total up to £8,000. NMBS's own report of the event put the figure at over £8,000.

The money was raised through table donations and a prize draw for an Apple iPad, open to those who made a charitable donation, according to NMBS.

Kevin Williams, NMBS chief executive, said the Dinner Dance was now in its 53rd year. "It enables merchants and suppliers to relax, socialise and build lasting connections," he said. He also told guests the business was on track for a record year.

The charities

CRASH describes itself as the construction industry's charity for homelessness and hospice organisations. It said the funds would support its work transforming homelessness shelters and hospice environments using construction industry expertise.

The charity is not primarily a grant-giving body. It sources pro bono or discounted professional expertise through its Corporate Patrons, and said it supported 48 homelessness and hospice construction projects during 2024-25.

The Maddie Rose Foundation, registered charity number 1214573, says it advances the education, training and career development of young people in the built environment, particularly the building materials sector. NMBS describes it as supporting young people entering the merchanting sector.

The event

CRASH thanked Kevin Williams, Andy Hexall and Sam Hunt from NMBS for organising the event. Volunteers from Saint-Gobain, the ACO Group table and the Maddie Rose Foundation helped the charity with its collection during the evening.

NMBS said after-dinner entertainment came from male vocal quartet Operatico, with The Bootleg Beatles as the headline act and Fully FunKtional as house band.

Previous dinners

The 2025 Dinner Dance, held on 25 October 2025 in the Great Room at Grosvenor House, raised £10,000 for the same two charities, according to NMBS, with more than 1,000 independent builders' merchants and suppliers attending.

That dinner was the last for long-serving chief executive Chris Hayward, who NMBS said stepped down in April 2026 after a 47-year career at the society, with Kevin Williams succeeding him. This year's event was therefore the first under the new chief executive.

NMBS describes itself as the UK's largest buying society for independent builders, timber, roofing, hardware, plumbing and heating merchants. Its 2026 Dinner Dance report put membership at more than 1,350 merchants, while its FAQs page gives a figure of 1,250 or more shareholding members. The society said it works with a network of more than 600 suppliers.

What happens next

NMBS's next listed events are the NMBS Exhibition 2027 on 14 to 15 April 2027 and the NMBS Golf Day 2027 on 16 June 2027.