Landscape & Gardening Awards 2018

Build 2018 Landscape & Gardening Awards 4 he Builders Merchants Federation Ltd (BMF) is the only trade association representing and protecting the interests of builders’ merchants and suppliers to the merchanting industry in the UK. As of February 2018, the total membership of the BMF stands at 640 merchant and supplier companies, who together have combined sales of £28bn and employ over 123,000 people in the building materials industry. BMF’s 340 merchant members operate in over 5,000 branches across the UK. The recent Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) report contains data from GfK’s ground-breaking Builders Merchants Panel, which analyses data from over 80% of generalist builders’ merchants’ sales throughout Great Britain. GfK’s Builders Merchant Point of Sale Tracking Data sets a gold standard in reliable market trends. Unlike data from sources based on estimates, or sales from suppliers to the supply chain, this up-to-date data is based on actual sales from merchants to builders and other trades. These strong results buck the trends reported by the Office for National Statistics of continued construction output decline in the three-month on three-month series in January 2018. In contrast, the builders’ merchants, who supply materials to the construction industry, saw average sales a day 3.4% higher this January compared to January 2017. The BMF figures are contained in the ‘Builders Merchants Building Index’ which tracks builders’ merchants’ actual sales using GfK data. The index shows strong growth over the past year, with the rolling twelve months from February 2017 to January 2018 4.9% above the same period a year earlier, with one less trading day. The BMF have previously reported that builders’ merchants were cautiously optimistic for 2018 and beyond, and this latest data indicates confidence and a robust performance in the UK building materials supply chain. The BMF states that the healthy results of their members demonstrates that builders merchants are delivering the vital materials required to support construction and housing growth across the UK. John Newcomb, Chief Executive of the BMF, made his comment on the findings and how they impact on the market. “These figures show that builders merchants are delivering the building blocks for growth across the UK and playing a key role in supporting vital construction projects. Demand for housing and repairing of existing stock relies on merchants, and these figures show our members can be depended on to deliver. “Of course, there are challenges facing builders merchants such as continued decline in private commercial work, increases in raw material prices and product shortages. However, we are confident our members will continue to see robust growth and they are ready to work with local authorities, developers and consumers to get the right materials in the right place.” Builders Merchants Start 2018 With 8.4% Growth Builders merchants have reported an increase in sales of 8.4% in January (compared to January 2017) lifted by one additional trading day. This buoyant start is supported by growth in all categories, with landscaping performing strongest, up 14.5% from last year. T 1 Builders Merchants Builders merchants