A strong finish for Merchants in 2016

“2016 was a successful year for generalist builders’ merchants, with revenues of over £5.44bn and sales value growth of 5.2% on the previous year”, says Ricky Coombes, Channel Manager at GfK, which provides top line data for the Builders Merchant Building Index. “A strong final quarter’s performance (up 5.5% on the previous year) contributed to the overall success of 2016.

“Heavy Building Materials grew 5.8% on 2015, driven by several key sub-categories, such as Roofing Products, Lintels and Plaster/Plasterboards”.

Total merchants’ sales were 5.5% ahead in Q4 this year compared with 2015. Heavy Building Materials did better (+7.1%). Overall sales in December 2016 were 4.0% higher than December 2015.

Andy Williamson, Group MD IKO PLC and the BMBI Expert for Roofing Products, commented:

“The final quarter of 2016 was in line with the rest of the year for roofing – inconsistent, but up on the same period in 2015. The industry went into 2016 with high expectations, but due to unprecedented events such as Brexit, the US presidency and a fluctuating exchange rate, a number of projects were delayed in 2016, although RMI was largely unaffected. In roofing, the single ply market saw a cyclical swing to hot melt after years of strong growth.

“The NHBC recently commented that house building has remained resilient, with some good regional growth outside London. The RICS Q4 2016 Construction Market Survey saw expectations for workloads regain lost ground following Brexit, after a dip around the referendum. Both are indications of a good 2017 for roofing. The storms and frosts we normally get in January and February mean there’s usually lots of shed work to repair the damage done, so Q1 2017 should be up on Q4 2016.”