After nearly three years of declining sales revenue, it seems like builders’ merchants are starting to firmly rebound.
The latest Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) report, published in June, shows builders’ merchants’ sales takings in April were up by 3.0% compared to April 2024. Volumes increased by 3.4% year-on-year, while prices eased -0.3%. With one less trading day in the most recent period, like-for-like takings were up by 8.2%.
While sales data for May has yet to be analysed, April’s solid increase follows a 7.2% year-on-year rise in takings in March.
Seven of the twelve categories sold more compared in April 2025 compared to April 2024, with seasonal category landscaping well ahead of the rest, up 13.3%. Sales of heavy building materials were up 3.7%, while timber & joinery products were up 1.7%.
After a busy March, takings were just 0.9% up in April, but there was one less trading day in April, making daily takings 5.9% higher in April than March.
There is still some way to go to make up for the months and months of slowing business for builders’ merchants. Total sales revenue in the 12 months from May 2024 to April 2025 was down 2.3% on the previous 12-month period (May 2023 to April 2024). Volumes were down 1.5% and prices were 0.8% lower
Administered by MRA Research for the Builders Merchants Federation, BMBI  is a monthly index of builders’ merchant sales 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. As such it offers arguably the most reliable measure of movement in repair, maintenance and improvement (RMI) activity in the UK.
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