Sales to builders by Britain’s builders’ merchants have continued to recover, but at a slower pace in August compared to the previous two months, according to the latest Builders Merchants Building Index (BMBI) report.
Although total builders’ merchants’ sales were 3.9% behind August 2019, daily sales were 0.9% above last year’s level when adjusted for the difference in trading days. Some categories continued to perform strongly.
Landscaping was the first category to recover following the sharp drop in April, and it has remained strong with August sales 16.3% higher, than in the same period last year. Sales were boosted by homeowners spending time in lockdown and working from home thinking of things they wanted to improve.
Despite seeing a 25% decrease in sales compared to July, workwear and safetywear exceeded August 2019 sales by 1.8%. The remaining nine categories were weaker year on year.
Sales in the last three months (June to August) were down only 1.0%, compared with the same three months in 2019, on one more trading day. Landscaping was the strongest with a 30.9% increase, compared to the same quarter last year, while workwear and safetywear and timber and joinery products also saw positive growth.
“Overall, the resilience of the sector has been remarkable,” said Mike Rigby, chief executive officer of MRA Research, which produces the BMBI reports. “Although the rate of recovery slowed down in August and total sales were down month-on-month, compared to last year, builders’ merchants’ sales are marginally ahead on an equal number of trading days, and landscaping is well above last year.
“While good weather and people spending more time in their homes have had a powerful impact on the recovery, sporadic material shortages, caused by the sudden strong rebound, have tested capacity and put a brake on stronger growth.”
The August BMBI report is available to download at www.bmbi.co.uk.
