At the end of February, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced ‘The Windsor Framework: A new way forward’ as a EU trade deal breakthrough, brokered with French President Macron. As is… Read more
The latest figures from the Plumbing & Heating Merchant Index (PHMI) report show total value sales for January 2023 through specialist plumbing and heating merchants were +13.4% higher than January… Read more
The latest Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) report reveals that builders’ merchants’ value sales were up +0.2% in January 2023 compared to the same month in 2022. This nominal growth… Read more
The Office for National Statistics has published estimates of construction output for January 2022. Monthly construction output is estimated to have decreased 1.7% in volume terms in January 2023; this… Read more
As I look back on the fourth quarter of 2022 and the preceding nine months, our sector remained resilient in what was a turbulent year. Although December’s output was estimated… Read more
Quarter four saw a continuation of demand softening, which we evidenced in Q3, across the majority of timber products. Construction is slowing, with housebuilding looking particularly vulnerable. Mortgage approvals in… Read more
Quarter four was relatively stable after a turbulent and unsettling quarter three for the UK – politically and economically – but with soaring inflation and the threat of imminent recession,… Read more
Sales continued to slow in Q4. Pre-Covid we would expect a lull in sales in December and January when the weather is typically unforgiving for landscaping projects, however we’ve lost… Read more
The introduction of the UK’s own UKCA mark has continued to be a vexed issue for fasteners and fixings. Along with other building products, they fall under the Construction Products… Read more
At the risk of being a stereotypical Brit, I want to talk about the weather. What can the mercury tell us about demand for mineral wool insulation? As I write,… Read more
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.
