Total builders merchants’ sales in July were up 2.9% in value compared with the same month last year. Work wear and safety wear (+13.4%), kitchens and bathrooms (+6.4%), plumbing, heating and electrical (+6%) and landscaping (+5.6%) displayed the largest increases, while the timber and joinery category saw lower growth in July and was down marginally at -0.1%.
When adjusted for trading days, total builders merchants’ sales were down 1.6% on July 2018, while timber and joinery sales fell 4.5%.
Month-On-Month
Compared with June 2019, total builders merchants sales were up 13.3% in July, though much of this growth was due to the three-day difference in trading days. Sales of timber and joinery products increased 10.6% in July, but on an adjusted basis, the sector was down 3.8% in the month.
When taking into account the trading day difference, the figures show that almost all sectors performed less well in July than in June. Among the best performing sectors were decorating (-0.1%), kitchens and bathrooms (-0.3%) and heavy building materials (-0.8%), and overall total builders merchants’ sales fell 1.5% on the same basis.
Sales growth remained positive, however, when looking at the last three months compared with February, March and April 2019. Total builders merchants sales were up 7.6%, while timber and joinery sales increased 5.4% (+0.5% on an adjusted basis). Year-todate, the sector also performed well, with sales of timber and joinery products up 2.6%.
Index
July’s BMBI index was 132.8, with landscaping once again the highest category at 165.4. The timber and joinery index for July was 130.9.
