Like-for-like sales at UK builders鈥� merchants, taking trading day differences into account, were up 12.1% year-on-year in November 2021.
It was a record-breaking month for several categories in the Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) 聽鈥� record-breaking in terms of money through the tills, that is.聽 With rampant inflation in the prices of building materials, there is no indication that sales volumes 鈥� cubic metres of timber or tonnes of sand 鈥� were up in November.聽 And with merchants鈥� overheads also continuing to rise rapidly, there is no indication that increased turnover translated into increased profits for the merchants.
However, in terms of financial value, Timber & Joinery Products (+30.2%) recorded its 15th consecutive month of year-on-year sales growth. Renewables & Water Saving (+18.0%) and Landscaping (+17.1%) also put in a strong performance, and Services (+17.1%) had its best-ever monthly sales since the BMBI started in July 2014. Kitchens & Bathrooms (14.5%) had its highest-ever monthly BMBI turnover. Plumbing, Heating & Electrical (13.8%) had its best month of 2021, and Heavy Building Materials, the largest category, also performed strongly (+13.5%).
Compared to November 2019, before the pandemic and before prices started escalating, total merchant value sales were up 28.0% in November 2021, with one more trading day in 2021. Eleven of the 12 categories sold more with Landscaping (+51.4%) and Timber & Joinery Products (+51.3%) still leading the pack.
Heavy Building Materials (+23.4%) and Kitchens & Bathrooms (+12.1%) were among the eight categories also growing strongly. Only Workwear & Safetywear (-2.9%) sold less. Total like-for-like value sales were 22.2% higher.
Month-on-month total merchant sales were 3.2% up on October 2021, helped by one more trading day in November. Renewables & Water Saving (+15.9%) performed best, followed by Workwear & Safetywear (+13.4%) and Kitchens & Bathrooms (+12.5%).
Mike Rigby, CEO of MRA Research, which produces the report, said: 鈥淎fter signs that the market had started to slow in October, along comes November with record-breaking and annual best performances across several categories including the largest.
鈥淲hile Timber & Joinery and Landscaping continue to enjoy a bumper year, November has also seen a resurgence for Kitchens & Bathrooms, which had been held back by lockdowns. We鈥檒l wait to see December鈥檚 sales, but it looks like we could be wrapping up 2021 with a strong year for merchants, and a good number of reasons to be optimistic about 2022.鈥�
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