Marketing to Builders Merchants

Since the last update, there have been many changes in the sector, including mergers, acquisitions and buy-outs. This latest edition of our Builders’ Merchant Database reflects these and many other changes, including contact names, business cessations, address changes, etc. New entries have been introduced, where appropriate. All the firms which appear in the latest (April 2025) Top 20 league table published by Professional Builders Merchant and those in the Builders Merchants Journal League Table (January 2025) have been included and notated accordingly.

In addition to the contact name, the information for each entry also includes the number of branches for each firm, the primary activity (i.e. heavyside, lightside, timber, etc.), address, telephone number, website and email address (over 79% are name-specific to buyer, the remainder being generic - info@, etc.). We have also included the social media links (where possible) for LinkedIn and Facebook.

The Market

Over the last decade, industry research has indicated that builders’ merchants have accounted for between 8.5% and 9% of the UK’s construction output and they, together with their suppliers, contribute over £40bn to the UK economy every year. Consolidation in the sector has resulted in the major groups making up an estimated 72% of the market. According to AMA Research’s UK Builders’ Merchants Market Report 2024-2028, the market was valued at £19.75 billion (in 2024), and builders’ merchants account for approximately 80-85% of the UK’s construction material supply sector. In terms of the national spread, the majority, estimated to be 86%, are located in England.

Overall, the merchants offer an extensive range, dominated by traditional building products. Plumbing and drainage account for around 17%, and heating and ventilation for around 15%, with other product sectors commanding smaller shares. Buying groups (see below) continue to play an important role in the market, not least because it remains highly price-sensitive, being affected by product availability, and raw material and fuel costs.

In March 2025, the Builders’ Merchant Building Index (BMBI) published data for the previous year, and found that like-for-like total value sales for 2024 finished +5.2% lower than the figure for 2023. In terms of the individual product categories, five of the twelve categories sold more in value, with Workwear & Safetywear (+10.8%), Tools (+6.7%) and Services (+3.0%) performing best. Renewables & Water Saving (-24.0%), Timber & Joinery Products (-6.4%) and Heavy Building Materials (-5.5%) performed weakest.

The BMBI monthly and quarterly data provides accurate and comprehensive information on the market’s trends. The headlines for BMBI’s quarterly reports provide a very good snapshot on the current state of the sector:

Q1 2025: Merchant Q1 Sales Up +0.9% Y-o-Y & March Sales Jump +7.2% Y-o-Y

Q4 2024: Q4 Merchant Value Sales Dip -0.5% as 2024 Closes Down -4.1% on Last Year /

Q3 2024: Merchant Value Sales Rose +1.7% Q-on-Q But Were -2.6% Adrift of Last Year’s Sales

Q2 2024: Merchant Value Sales Down -5.8% on Q2 2023 – June Volumes Weak

The BMBI is a brand of the Builders Merchant Federation (BMF): it was launched and is managed by MRA Research. It provides sales comparisons for the key individual product groups, such as Heavy Building Materials, Ironmongery, Plumbing, Heating & Electrical, Kitchens & Bathrooms, etc. Separate to this, the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) publishes annual Merchant Industry Forecasts to help those involved in building materials supply to plan for the future. It is available free of charge to members and can be purchased by non-members.

The BMF is the main trade association representing builders’ merchants and their suppliers in the UK and Ireland. At the time of writing (summer 2025), current membership comprises 1,020 merchant, suppliers and associates. These companies had combined sales of £51.6bn and employed over 198,000 people in the building materials industry. The BMF’s 535 merchant members operate from over 6,500 branches across the UK and Ireland.

Marketing to Builders’ Merchants

Builders’ merchants represent a major target audience for construction product suppliers. In its 2022 Construction Manufacturers Marketing Report, NBS found that merchants/distributors were ranked the third most important audience after specifiers and contractors (a new report is due to be published in H2 2025).

Needless to say, important influences on the merchant sector’s product selection and purchasing choices are high client demand, reliability of supply and, of course, high margins. Therefore, generating interest amongst the trades which use merchants is vital and it is worth a brief digression.

Online product research and selection by tradespeople has been increasing over many years (the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this). The most recent research we can find on this is from 2020 when international research firm L.E.K. Consulting published the results of its survey of UK contractors and trades people. It demonstrated that “… digital channels were already becoming ubiquitous for researching, comparing products and ordering across building product categories.” The commentary for the survey posited that “... for product manufacturers, this is a significant development. No longer can they afford to rely on traditional relationships with builder’s merchants, specialist distributors and DIY stores. Now, ecommerce leaders, such as Screwfix and even Amazon, present real alternatives to physical stores ...” The survey’s findings included:

• 80% of building contractors and tradespeople regularly using smartphones for work, checking prices and availability, gathering product information and assessing product quality
• A key use of the technology is online research before placing an order
• For planned purchases of heavy materials, the most common research activities are gathering product information (69%) and comparing prices (54%)
• Contractors and tradespeople are less likely to gather product information before planned purchases of light materials, given the frequent nature of purchases and familiar suppliers. However, they are more likely to compare prices online (around 65% do so for light materials)

The full results of the survey and L.E.K. Consulting’s commentary and analysis provides some valuable insights for product manufacturers and suppliers, suggesting ‘Five steps to gain value from digital disruption’. Visit the L.E.K website here.

Another survey was carried out in 2023 by Insider Trends and the National Buying Group (NBG). Entitled Valuing Local Independent Trade Merchants in a Digital World, its aim, in part, was to understand which channels tradespeople are buying through and the reasons behind these buying behaviours. It found that, post-COVID, merchant customers had returned to the trade counter and that “… the majority of trade sales (92%) continued to take place through physical channels making this a uniquely low-digital sector.” However, perhaps unsurprisingly, digital purchasing channels were found to be relevant with 60.5% of tradespeople saying that they shop both online and in-store.

At the end of 2024, merchant chain Jewson published their annual Trade Trends report, which found that one of the most important issues for tradespeople and builders is their ability to source sustainable materials. More than half (51%) of the survey’s respondents said this was an important consideration when it came to their supplier or choice for building products. By April 2025, according to Builders Merchants News, Jewson were reporting “a surge in sustainable material sales”.

Journals, Product Directories & Other Media

Key in-print and digital journals covering the sector include Builders’ Merchants News, Professional Builders Merchant, and Builders Merchants Journal, all of which offer a range of advertising options, some of which are highlighted below. These journals will include owners, directors, purchasing and branch managers in their readerships and are included in our downloadable database of 330+ UK construction industry journals, which, apart from identifying other relevant titles, includes media data, such as circulation, readership profiles, sales contacts, etc. In order to support the PR activities of our clients, the index also gives named editorial contacts at each of the journals, including editorial-specific email addresses.

Professional Builders Merchant (PBM) also offers a dedicated 8-page advertorial supplement to give companies the opportunity to communicate to an audience of key merchant personnel. Another service to suppliers is inclusion in its weekly e-newsletter (a solus option is also available), plus a sponsored social media post service. You can request a copy of the media pack here.

Builders Merchants Journal (BMJ) is published 12 times a year and, in addition to regular in-print advertising, it also offers advertising in its regular e-newsletter, solus e-mails, and entry in the annual BMJ Supplier Directory. You can view the media pack here.

Builders’ Merchants News (BMN) also publishes in-print and digitally, and advertising information can be accessed here.

In partnership with the Builders’ Merchants Federation, an annual Top 100 Supplier Influencers listing is produced to recognise excellence in individuals who work for construction product manufacturers supplying the merchant sector. The annual souvenir brochure published to accompany this offers a limited number of sponsorship / advertising opportunities.

The Builders’ Merchant Federation publishes two magazines: a quarterly membership magazine entitled One Voice, and a half-yearly magazine called P&H Voice for the plumbing and heating membership. Both are circulated to BMF members and offer advertising options, the details of which are available by contacting Crosby Associates. The media packs can be viewed here and here, respectively.

Product Directories

In terms of product directories, our dedicated feature provides a comprehensive index for all construction sectors, but it is worth highlighting builders’ merchant specific ones here.

National Merchant Buying Society Buyers’ Guide is published in both print and digital versions, and is used by merchant buyers and branch managers. Details here.

One Place is a Product Information Management (PIM) and B2B trading platform for NMBS (see Buying Groups below) merchants and suppliers. Product and pricing data can be provided for sharing with merchants. Its supplier FAQs page suggests that free listings are obtainable through a basic package “… which allows you to provide your product data to OnePlace and in turn Merchants are able to download the data.”

BMF Handbook & Directory is published annually in-print and digitally, and contains information on merchants and the products that they stock. For advertising information, the media pack can be viewed here.

Builders Merchant ‘Omnibus’ Research

For construction industry manufacturers and suppliers seeking to develop new markets, comprehensive research is vital and our Construction Market Research feature provides access to a comprehensive index of specialist construction research agencies.

However, for suppliers looking for smaller research insights, one of those research agencies, MRA Research, provides Builders’ Merchants Omnibus Surveys for those companies who want quick, cost-effective research to improve their marketing.

The Survey is an insight tool for suppliers and companies working in the builders’ merchant sector. Businesses marketing or selling to builders’ merchants, and, through them, to their trade and retail customers can buy questions. These questions can be anything suppliers need to know about – products or services, a campaign, brands, their own performance, support, attitudes or perceptions, merchants’ customers, or an issue critical to the industry. Questions can range from simple yes or no, to complicated scaling questions, or open-ended verbatims. Questions can be asked on behalf of a named brand or unnamed supplier. The research also allows suppliers to buy as few or as many questions as they want, with a perfectly weighted, nationally representative sample of builders’ merchants, by size, type, national or independents, and region. In as little as two weeks, companies can have the answers and analysis they need to inform a sales decision, support a buying group pitch, or just improve the effectiveness of their marketing (details here).

Selling Into Merchants – Training Course

As their supplier members will be aware, the BMF regularly runs an interactive workshop to help suppliers understand the merchant structure, and the difference between independent and national merchants. Part of the course looks at how to approach different merchant types and how buying groups affect the purchasing process. You will learn how to overcome common objections and with whom, within a merchant, to engage in order to improve sales opportunities.

For full details of the course’s content, click here.

Exhibitions and Awards

There are over 180 construction exhibitions detailed in our UK Construction Exhibitions Index, but it is worth highlighting the National Painting and Decorating Show and the National Merchant Buying Society Exhibition, the latter of which is a dedicated and key event in the independent merchant buyer's calendar. There are also the Toolfair and ProBuilderLive regional events throughout the year. Screwfix Live takes place each year and typically presents over 200 brands.

Finally, the InstallerSHOW describes itself as the largest gathering of heat, water, air and energy manufacturers under one roof. InstallerSHOW 2025 welcomed over 30,000 visitors and 800+ exhibitors. Access the media pack here (ConstructUK is a media partner to InstallerSHOW).

The Builders’ Merchants Federation hosts an annual Conference and Awards event. The conference has an exhibition area for suppliers, and sponsorship opportunities are available for the awards. The BMF events page can be found here.

The sector also has a number of other awards offering suppliers promotional opportunities through sponsorship. These include the Builders Merchants Awards and the BMJ Industry Awards. Our comprehensive list of industry awards ceremonies which offer sponsorship opportunities can be viewed separately here.

Merchants’ Product Data Template

In a major step towards product data standardisation across the building materials industry, the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) launched a universal product data template, which can be used by all manufacturers and merchants.

Product data standardisation is the key to removing inefficiencies in transferring information across the building materials supply chain. The BMF’s product data template has been specifically designed to help members eliminate the problem of inconsistent data content and format requests, thus saving both time, effort and cost. The template is available, free of charge, for members to download from the BMF website (details here).

In April 2025, the BMF and the NMBS announced a joint venture to launch an Industry Data Pool. The initiative aims to create a centralised, digital platform for seamless product data exchange within the building materials sector and to provide an industry-owned resource containing high-quality, e-commerce-friendly information on hundreds of thousands of products. The press release can be viewed here.

Merchant Buying Groups Index

Independent builders’ merchants are often members of buying groups or consortiums, which offer them commercial advantages. The following are such groups:

Allied Merchants Buying Association (Ireland)

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://alliedmerchantsireland.com/wp/allied-merchants/

Contact name: Keith Giblin, Chief Executive Officer

Notes: Merchant buying group in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland with 23 members, comprising 193 branches.

 

ANEW (Associated National Electrical Wholesalers)

Tel: +44 (0) 1438 750075

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.anew.co.uk/

Contact name: Samantha McFall, Chief Executive Officer

Notes: Independent electrical buying group with a nationwide network of over 250 branches.

 

AWEBB – The Electrical Network

Tel: +44 (0) 29 2240 2443

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://awebb.org.uk

Contact name: Mark Lambert, Chief Executive Officer

Notes: Electrical products purchasing consortium with over 200 branches across the UK and Ireland.

 

Fegime UK

Tel: +44 (0) 1455 556822

Email: via website

Web: http://fegime.co.uk/

Contact name: Alan Reynolds, Chief Executive Officer

Notes: Electrical wholesalers & distributors across UK (also Europe). Also publishes comprehensive Electrical Product Guide.

 

FORTIS Merchants Ltd

Email: via website

Web: https://www.fortismerchants.co.uk/

Contact name: Will O'Meara, Director of Operations

Notes: 39 member companies across the UK (approx 450 branches).

 

H&B Group

Tel: +44 (0) 1923 677724

Email: via LinkedIn

Web: https://www.linkedin.com/company/h&b-buying-group-llp/

Contact name: Stephen Bennett Procurement Director

 

The IPG – (Independent Plumbing Group)

Tel: +44 (0) 1903 771699

Email: Via website

Web: https://www.the-ipg.co.uk/

Contact name: Andy Cottee, Managing Director

Notes: IPG is a group for local, independent bathroom showrooms and plumbing and heating merchants. Membership comprises over 200 plumbing, heating, and bathroom stores nationwide.

 

IBC - Independent Buying Consortium

Tel: +44 (0) 1327 317 631

Email: Via website

Web: https://www.ibcbuyinggroup.com/suppliers-2-2/

Contact name: Paul Read, Chief Commercial Officer

Notes: Comprises more than 200 members in 300 locations across the UK. Offers services to help supplier members gain brand recognition, including: inclusion and links from IBC website, distribution of point-of-sale material, networking opportunities, joint marketing campaigns, and merchant visits.

 

National Buying Group

Email: Via website

Web: https://www.nationalbuyinggroup.com/

Contact name: Mark Hughes, Managing Director

Notes: Comprising over 90 members accounting for 300 branches. Supplier members can attend the NBG annual conference.

 

National Merchant Buying Society (NMBS)

Tel: +44 (0) 116 253 0531

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.nmbs.co.uk/

Contact name: Andy Hextall, Commercial Director

Notes: Comprising more than 1,300 members, the NMBS is the UK’s largest buying group for independent builders, plumbing and heating, timber, and hardware merchants. It operates the annual NMBS exhibition (see above). In 2021, NMBS announced the launch of its Product Information Management system, as part of its OnePlace B2B trading platform, which allows suppliers to upload data for their whole product range in one central location. Merchants can then view this data on the platform to help research and choose which products to stock, as well as to fulfil their own customer orders. See Directories section above.

 

PHG Plumbing Heating Group

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.phg.uk.com/

Contact name: Matthew Harrison, Managing Director

Notes: Specialist plumbing, heating and bathroom buying group with 13 members accounting for 276 branches and showrooms.

 

SMG (for flooring)

Tel: +44 (0) 118 932 3832

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.smg-group.co.uk/

Notes: 350 members.

 

Topline Group (Ireland)

Tel: +353 (0) 45 876 406

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://toplinegroup.ie

Contact name: Fergal McKeown, Buying Director

Notes: Leading DIY/ building materials buying group in Ireland, with over 90 affiliated members operating more than 160 branches.