The Builders Merchants channel has seen a solid start to 2025, taking into consideration previous years and all the various macroeconomic and political concerns both locally and globally. This could however be a short-lived position, with general expectations for the sector now being more negative compared than views at the start of the year.
Market growth has finally returned, with Q1 overall value up by 0.9% against 2024 Q1. This was the first comparative quarterly growth seen in more than two years and a noticeable improvement to Q1 last year, which was down -7.0% in value compared to 2023 Q1. Volume was up by 3.9% on the back of strong performance by the Heavy Building Materials category, while overall pricing has seen a decline of -2.9% against 2024 Q1.
Blocks and Aggregates, and to a lesser extent Bricks and Roofing Tiles, were main drivers behind the Heavy Building Materials performance, which saw value growth of 2.0%, volume growth of 5.8% and a price decline of -3.6%. Most of the big-ticket items within this category saw a combination of volume increases and price decreases compared to 2024 Q1.
Timber & Joinery has however continued its trend of value decline, with value down -1.4% against 2024 Q1. Volume was up 2.9%, and price down by -4.2%. It’s however important to note that value decline is moving in the right direction, as 2024 Q1 was down by -10.4% compared to 2023 Q1. Sheet Materials has been the main driver behind this decline, with Timber volumes relatively in line with overall market performance.
Other categories seeing positive movement in Q1 included Services, Tools and Landscaping, increasing in value by 5.3%, 2.9% and 2.6% respectively. Within Landscaping the subcategories of Garden Walling / Paving and Fencing & Gates have done well, while Tools performance was driven by Hand Tools.
Workwear and Safetywear saw the largest value decline, down by -3.3% against 2024 Q1. Decorating saw similar performance in a decrease of -3.2%, while Kitchens & Bathrooms were down by -2.7%. Decorating performance was influenced by preparation and sundry items, with Fitted Kitchens the main driver behind the declines seen in Kitchens & Bathrooms.
The second quarter results will be influenced by the autumn budget and the realities attached to it, while the US-China trade war has added another significant layer to the continuous global uncertainty. A large amount of UK construction materials is sourced locally and will therefore not be affected by any tariffs, but merchanting sales will likely still be affected by the knock-on effect of the trade war.
