General Builders Merchants Market Report - UK 2025-2030

This report covers the General Builders’ Merchants Market in the UK. The analysis generally covers a ten-year period, but our 2025 report covers an extra year, since comparisons with 2020 do not show an accurate picture. This is the first edition of this report.

Our analysis covers the whole market, not just the largest companies. Detailed definitions can be found inside each section. At an overview level, the report covers:

• Current market size by value and growth rates
• Key influences - macro and micro, regulations/legislation and related markets)
• Important trends in the merchants’ market
• Market structure – number of companies, distribution overview, Porters 5 forces
• Market shares – by merchant category, by general merchanting turnover. Fastest growing merchants.  
• Key players - revenue, number of branches, profile, strategy, corporate activity and profits
• Market confidence and expectations (from our own survey)
• Current issues and challenges in the sector (as raised by those in it)
• Our outlook for the market - 5 year’ forecast

MRA Building Market Reports is not a report factory and does not have a 'one size fits all' template or list of contents. We adapt the content in each report in order to provide as much real insight as possible.

All report authors and editors at MRA Reports have significant knowledge of the construction sector and the product areas and distribution channels within it. MRA Research (previously Rigby Research) is one of the longest standing market research companies within the construction sector and has built large amounts of market data over time.

A wide range of information sources have been used to create this report. External sources include; Companies House data, company annual reports and analyst presentations, trade associations and construction media, data from the office of national statistics, government budgets and strategic investment plans, data from HMRC on house moving and National Living Wage. We have also used index figures from the Builders Merchants Building Index (BMBI) to analyse sales trends and product performance over time.

Our forecasts are based on a range of information sources including our own tracking of the merchant market, our own primary research and long-term forecasts by Consensus Economics, who surveys forecasters and produce average forecasts for economic growth. Other sources include the Builders Merchant Federation (BMF) and the Construction Products Association (CPA).

1.    SUMMARY. 4

2.    BUILDING PRODUCTS DISTRIBUTION.. 6

2.1       OVERVIEW... 6

2.2       THE SUPPLY CHAIN.. 6

2.3       CHANNEL SHARES.. 10

2.4       LEADING DISTRIBUTORS OF BUILDING PRODUCTS.. 12

2.5       DISTRIBUTION TRENDS.. 13

2.6       INFLUENCES ON CONSTRUCTION.. 14

3.     MARKET ENVIRONMENT. 16

3.1       ECONOMIC ACTIVITY & FORECASTS.. 16

3.2       CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY. 16

3.3       THE HOUSING MARKET. 18

4.     THE GENERAL BUILDERS MERCHANT MARKET. 21

4.1       DEFINITION.. 21

4.2       MARKET SIZE & GROWTH.. 21

4.3       KEY MARKET INFLUENCES.. 23

4.4       FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS.. 28

5.     THE MERCHANTS.. 32

5.1       MARKET STRUCTURE. 32

5.2       MAJOR MARKET EVENTS.. 33

5.3       MERCHANT MARKET SHARES.. 34

5.4       REGIONAL STRENGTHS.. 37

5.5       PROFITABILITY. 38

5.6       MERCHANT PROFILES.. 38

6.     PRODUCT SECTORS.. 62

6.1       DISTRIBUTION BY PRODUCT SECTOR.. 62

6.2       MERCHANTS’ SALES MIX. 64

6.3       SECTOR PERFORMANCE THROUGH MERCHANTS.. 65

7.     BUILDERS’ MERCHANTS ‘PULSE’ SURVEY. 67

7.1       ABOUT THE SURVEY. 67

7.2       SALES EXPECTATIONS.. 67

7.3       MERCHANT CONFIDENCE. 70

7.4       PROBLEMS & ISSUES.. 74

7.5       CHALLENGES FOR THE INDUSTRY. 74

8.         FORECASTS & FUTURE PROSPECTS   76