Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
The latest Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) report, published in February, shows builders’ merchants’ like-for-like total value sales in November 2025 were -0.4% lower than the same month in 2024.
With one less trading day in November 2025, unadjusted value sales were -5.1% down year-on-year, while volume sales were down -8.5% and prices up +3.7%.
By value, unadjusted for trading day differences, five of the twelve categories sold more in terms of value compared to November 2024. Renewables & Water Saving (+5.1%) and Workwear & Safetywear (+4.0%) were the best performing categories. Of the two largest categories, Timber & Joinery Products (-2.4%) sold less but fared better than Total Builders Merchants, while Heavy Building Materials was the weakest category overall (-8.4%).
Managing director of MRA Research, Mike Rigby, says “While it takes years for governments to commission major projects, and many more years for them to be implemented, on occasion a government can have an almost immediate impact on the economy and our daily lives. At the start of the Covid pandemic for example, the Government virtually stopped the economy when it told everyone to go home immediately and stay there.
“During November, in the chaotic run up to the budget, the Government did it again. It created so much uncertainty and unease that many consumers and businesses stopped or paused their spending on larger items and projects until they could see what the Chancellor announced.
“In the event the news was mixed, but the damage was done to November’s figures. Consumers’ confidence dropped two points in November to -19, according to the GfK Consumer Confidence index. But then the country appeared to give a huge sigh of relief as the budget wasn’t as bad as they’d feared. All five measures of confidence were up in December compared to November, and the overall index recovered two points to -17. The major purchase index was up four points to -11 from -15 in November, which is a very positive indicator of future spending on RMI and larger home projects.
“But overall confidence at -17 is the same as in December 2024, so the year as a whole has not progressed, and the country is still waiting for the better times it voted for to materialise.”
November’s BMBI report is available to download at www.bmbi.co.uk.
