Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
Builders merchant chain MKM Building Supplies Limited, saw a 13% rise in sales in the year to September 30 2023, with profits only marginally down at £88.2m. That’s according to the full year results for the period, released this morning (April 24th).
The slight drop in profits was attributed to the increased number of branch openings during the year: 18 in total, comprising 13 new branches, and five purchased from John Nicholls.
A further six branches have been opened since the end of the financial year, taking the total to 128 across the country; the company plans to continue this path, opening branches in areas where MKM currently doesn’t have a presence and where there’s a local team to invest in, work with and grow a branch. The aim is to open an additional 10 branches during the year.
In the near-term, MKM is anticipating market demand to remain subdued, but, with interest rates expected to decline later in the year, it anticipates seeing demand pick up, as smaller house builders and construction contractors are better able to recycle cashflows into new projects.
CEO Kate Tinsley said: “2023 was another solid year for the business. We saw MKM continue to outperform, against what was a more challenging market than recent prior years. This performance was driven by our strategic focus on new branch openings, investing in existing branches, ensuring product availability, a motivated team and our continued commitment to local communities and service. While we have grown into a national business, we have always kept to our roots, which is to work with local branch directors, meeting local needs and customer service at the individual branch level. We do this by incentivising local management and staff and by giving each branch significant autonomy. The result is that we have stronger relationships with our customer base, ensuring their repeat business and, through reputation, grow our market share.”
During the year the company sought to continue to reduce the emissions rate, though several ongoing initiatives, including increasing the number of e-forklift trucks, which during the period grew from 22% to 32% of the fleet, and increasing the proportion of hybrid and electric vehicles, which in 2023 grew from 55% to 69%. MKM also trebled the number of sustainability related products it sells.
