Builders鈥� merchants sold 4% more stuff in the second quarter of 2025 compared to Q2 2024 although their takings were only up by 2.8% because prices came down by 1.1% year-on-year.
The latest Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) report also reveals strong growth between the first and second quarters of this year.
Takings through merchants鈥� tills in Q2 2025 (April-June) were 11.7% higher than in the previous three-month period (January to March). Volumes grew by 13.9% on Q1 while prices were down by 2.0%.
And, with two less trading days in Q2 than in Q1, daily takings were up by 15.3% for the sector.
The second quarter finished strongly, June鈥檚 takings up 5.6% year-on-year and volumes up by 6.7% (with prices down 1.0%). However, June鈥檚 sales were 0.9% behind May by value although by just 0.1% by volume.
Mike Rigby, the MR of MRA Research who produces this monthly report for the Builders Merchant Federation using point-of-sale data, said: 鈥淎fter a difficult start to the year, the Q2 BMBI report has promising signs of growth in the builders鈥� merchant sector and Repair, Maintenance and Improvement markets. Volumes are rebounding, and while June was no great improvement on May, things are headed in the right direction.
鈥淭he latest ONS data suggests improvement, estimating total construction output to have grown 1.2% compared to Q1, with new work (1.1%) and repair and maintenance (1.4%) on the up. Again, the month-on-month picture is subdued, with June output growing just 0.3% compared to May. The ONS reports that private housing repair and maintenance, up 3.7%, was the main driver of growth.
鈥淭he big question is whether this momentum can be sustained into H2 with growing concerns about possible tax rises in the chancellor鈥檚 autumn budget.鈥�
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