Following recent figures reporting a bounce back in merchant sector growth, Russell Roof Tiles is experiencing a 15% increase in the number of merchant customers it works with.
This growth includes new accounts opened with national chains of builders’ merchants, as well as smaller regional groups, specialist roofing merchants and independent merchants.
These figures reflect the latest Builders’ Merchants Building Index *(BMBI), which recently reported that the value of sales in merchants rose nearly 40% compared to the previous three months. Sales of building materials through merchants bounced back strongly in the three months May to July. In July, sales recovered to such an extent that they were just 1.3% below the same time in 2019.
Russell Roof Tiles has always supported its independent and multiple merchant customers, helping them with specification and technical support. Over the past 18 months, Russell Roof Tiles has invested in the merchant sector, supporting both those who are strong in online sales, or in- store.
Merchants benefit from Russell Roof Tiles’ investment in online tools, such as Tile Estimator which helps identify order volumes required in just two minutes. The customer is then instantly provided with a quote. A Fixing Specification form also pulls together topographical information on the exact location of the project with the wind calculation parameters. By using the latest software, it turns the task into a couple of minutes job, and ensures that a specification fully complies with all the latest standards.
Andrew Hayward, managing director at Russell Roof Tiles, said: “As the market continues to evolve, even before the onset of the global pandemic, it has been important to us to ensure we continue to support our diverse range of customers.
“We have always been dedicated to supporting merchants and we continually look at ways in which we can improve our service. Our expert team is always on hand to offer advice when required, and we have introduced a number of new assets to help merchants. This growth in merchants is already delivering increased volumes of orders in the sector.”
*Developed and run by MRA Research, the BMBI – a brand of the Builders Merchant Federation – is a monthly index of builders’ merchant sales, and the most reliable, up-to-date measure of Repair, Maintenance, and Improvement (RMI) activity in the UK.
