The latest Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) report, published in March, shows builders’ merchants’ value sales in January down -2.3% compared to the same month in 2024. Volume sales were flat (+0.0%) and prices slipped -2.3%. There was no difference in trading days.

Year-on-year, only two categories sold more – Services (+3.5%) and Tools (+2.4%). Although down, some categories performed better than Total Merchants including Heavy Building Materials (-1.2%), Ironmongery (-1.5%) and Workwear & Safetywear (-1.9%). Kitchens & Bathrooms (-4.2%), Timber & Joinery Products (-4.4%) and Decorating (-6.3%) were the weakest categories.

Value sales in January were +33.9% up on the previous month, December 2024. Volume sales climbed +34.3% and prices were slightly lower (-0.3%). All categories sold more and seven outperformed Total Builders Merchants. These were Miscellaneous (+38.9%), Ironmongery (+38.5%), Workwear & Safetywear (+38.2%), Timber & Joinery Products (+37.4%), Heavy Building Materials (+35.5%), Plumbing Heating & Electrical (+35.1%) and Kitchens & Bathrooms (+34.1%). However, with five additional trading days in January, like-for-like value sales (which take trading day differences into account) were up only +3.5%.

In the period February 2024 to January 2025, total value sales were -4.1% down on the previous 12-month period (February 2023 to January 2024). Volume sales fell -4.1% and prices were flat (+0.0%). Five of the twelve categories sold more with Workwear & Safetywear (+8.9%) up the most, followed by Tools (+6.5%) and Services (+3.2%). The two largest categories Timber & Joinery Products (-6.3%) and Heavy Building Materials (-5.3%) declined more than Total Merchants. Renewables & Water Saving (-22.2%) was weakest. With two extra trading days this period, like-for-like value sales were -4.9% lower.

Mike Rigby, Managing Director of MRA Research which produces the BMBI report says: “January wasn’t the strong start builders’ merchants and building materials suppliers been hoping for. Bad weather played its part, but in large part politics had a bigger influence than rain stopping play.

“The blitzkrieg of uncertainty created by President Trump’s alarming tariff wars and his abruptly shifting alliances and transactional interventions, coming on top of the Labour Government’s missteps severely rattled consumers’ confidence. That dropped sharply across all metrics in January according to NIQ GfK’s long running consumer confidence index. While the index rallied in February, consumers’ view of the general economic situation for the coming 12 months (-31) is behind where it was the year before (-24), and way behind the improvement in confidence that was building over much of 2024. Little wonder markets are subdued with projects on pause or postponed for better times. Homeowners who are concerned about the future don’t stretch themselves to buy new properties or spend as much on major home improvement projects.

“Trump’s destabilising presence is reverberating across global stock markets and economies and starting to disrupt material supplies and costs as the roll out of new tariffs plays out. At home, the government is pushing its promised planning reforms. That’s good for the building industry, but it’s not the only brake on recovery and growth. Although the Builders Merchant Federation is leading an industry campaign to attract new workers into the building materials sector, the Government has yet to engage with the very large shortage of skilled workers required to build its targeted 1.5 million new homes in the next five years.

“UK construction and its supply chains have become resilient and got used to rolling with the punches after five years of considerable turbulence. Now, Britain’s Builders’ Merchants can prepare for forecast opportunities to grow more steadily in the second half of 2025.”

Set up and run by MRA Research, the BMBI – a brand of the Builders Merchants Federation – is a monthly index of builders’ merchant sales, and the most reliable, up-to-date measure of Repair, Maintenance, and Improvement (RMI) activity in the UK. The index is based on actual sales from GfK’s Builders’ Merchant Point of Sale Tracking Data, which captures value sales out to builders from generalist builders’ merchants, accounting for 88% of total sales from builders’ merchants throughout Great Britain. An in-depth review, which includes commentary by sector experts, is provided each quarter.