News

Leyland partners with TradeKart

Leyland TradeKart 2

TradeKart, the rapid delivery app-based servicefor tradespeople, has announced a partnership with decorators’ merchant Leyland, meaning customers across London will be able to access rapid delivery of the extensive Leyland range of products. Leyland has 35 stores in prominent locations across London, stocking a comprehensive range of thousands of products …

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Timber Coaters acquires Palmer Primer

Timber Coaters Ltd

Timber Coaters has announced the acquisition of Palmer Primer Ltd, a respected British manufacturer of specialist coating machinery for the timber industry. This strategic acquisition strengthens Timber Coaters’ market position by bringing in-house access to Palmer Primer’s advanced engineering and machinery technologies. Known across the industry for quality, reliability and …

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Marshalls sees return to growth

Marshalls web 1

Landscaping and building products manufacturer Marshalls, saw growth inch ahead by 4% for the four months to 30 April 2025, according to a trading statement issued ahead of its Annual General Meeting, at 11.00am today (14 May). Revenue was £207m (2024: £199m), although Landscaping Products revenue contracted by 3% year-on-year to …

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Lords reports on resilient year-end results

Lords Sutton branch 1

Lords, the builders and plumbers merchant group, delivered a ‘resilient’ performance in 2025, posting year-end revenues slightly down at £436.7m (2023: £462.6m). Operating profits were down 37% at £10.4m, for the year ending December 31 2024. Like-for-like revenue in the merchanting division was 3.6% lower than in 2023; recovering strongly …

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BMDS picks Omiteo as technology partner for the Industry Data Pool

datat classification

Building Materials Digital Services Ltd, the joint venture between the Builders Merchants Federation and NMBS , has appointed Omiteo (formerly ProPlanet) as the official technology provider for its Industry Data Pool platform. The IDP is being developed as a centralised, scalable, and secure platform to improve data quality, reduce duplication, …

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Lords opens in Bicester

Lords bicester copy crop

A new branch of builders merchant Lords Builders Merchants and Advance Roofing Supplies Ltd has officially opened in Bicester. Located on Lords Farm, Lords Lane, the site, formerly occupied by Blanchford Building Supplies, brings two of the Lords group’s core brands together under one roof, Advance Roofing Supplies being the …

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IBMG launches restructuring plans across 13 merchant brands

IBMG’s completes restructuring plans

Builders merchant group Independent Builders Merchant Group, is initiating a financial and operational restructuring programme across 13 of its merchant brands, which will recapitalise the group, compromising certain liabilities, including leases across its branch network, alongside a significant reduction in debt owed to the banks. Assuming court approval of the …

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Travis Perkins lures Gavin Slark from SIG

gavin slark

Gavin Slark is to join builders merchant group Travis Perkins from the beginning of next year. He is currently CEO of  SIG, a role he moved to from Grafton Group, where he spent 11 years. Between 2006 and 2011, Slark was chief executive of plumbers’ merchant BSS Group before its …

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Lawsons sticks with Silver FORS accreditation

Lawsons Group

Independent builders merchant group Lawsons has successfully maintained its Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS) Silver Accreditation. One of the earliest adopters of the FORS standard, Lawsons has consistently invested in the safety and quality of its extensive fleet and recruitment, training and development of its current team of over 150 …

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UK construction output slides further in April

low res builders on building site sstock

Rising business uncertainty led UK construction activity to decrease for the fourth consecutive month, according to the latest S&P Global UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index™ (PMI®), which showed further declines in total order books and cutbacks to staffing numbers. At 46.6 in April, activity remained below the 50.0 no-change value, …

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