The most recently available UK builders’ merchant sales statistics – for October 2024 – showed a +7.3% month-on-month increase, according to the latest Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) report.
Builders’ merchants’ value sales in October were up +1.2% compared to the same month in 2023. Volume sales climbed +2.7% while prices slipped -1.4%. With one additional trading day, like-for-like value sales (which take trading day differences into account) were down -3.2%.
Year-on-year, nine of the twelve categories sold more – Tools (+14.3%), Workwear & Safetywear (+10.1%), and Services (+6.0%). The two largest categories, Heavy Building Materials (+1.1%) and Timber & Joinery Products (-1.0%), showed weaker performance.
Month-on-month, October total value sales were +7.3% higher than September. Volume sales were up +6.5% and prices also edged up +0.7%. All bar one of the twelve categories sold more. Heavy Building Materials and Timber & Joinery products were +7.4%. Seasonal category Landscaping (-2.9%) was the only category to sell less.
In the 12-month period between November 2023 and October 2024, total value sales were down -4.8% compared to the same period the year before (November 2022 to October 2023). Volume sales were -6.3% lower and prices increased +1.6%.
The two largest categories – Heavy Building Materials (-6.5%) and Timber & Joinery Products (-7.4%). With three more trading days in the most recent 12-month period, like-for-like value sales were -5.9% lower.
Total value sales from January to October were down -4.5% compared to the first ten months of 2023.
“Construction output remains pretty flat, with a -0.4% fall in volumes in October according to the latest ONS data, and a +0.4% increase in the three months to October, driven by a +1.7% increase in new work,” said Mike Rigby, managing director of MRA Research which produces the BMBI report.
“However, a change in fortunes could be on the horizon. GfK’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index climbed three points in November to -18, with all metrics improving since October. The biggest improvement was in major purchase intentions, which rose five points to -16. This bodes well for both the housing market and RMI activity in the New Year.
But Mr Rigby posed the question: “Will those in the corridors of power heed the warnings of major housebuilders and the Home Builders Federation (HBF) about the skills shortage?”
“Could the government succeed where the industry has failed to resolve the age-old problem of recruiting and training the thousands more people needed to secure the future of UK construction? Their ability to deliver their target in the next five years will depend on it.”
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.
October’s BMBI report is available to download at www.bmbi.co.uk.
