Added by Love Business East Midlands | 19 December 2024
Latest figures show the East Midlands did better than most of the UK in a sector considered to be a key bellwether for the national economic picture.
Analysis from the BMF (Builders Merchants Federation), found the East Midlands recorded a dip in sales of just -1.7% in Q3 2024, compared to a nationwide fall of -2.6%.
The BMF’s quarterly Building Materials Building Index (BMBI) analyses sales figures across the UK, tracking regional variances and long-term trends.
Jim Parlato at Browns Builders Merchants is the BMF’s East Midlands Regional Chair. He said:
“Whilst the market remains challenging the past three months have seen an upturn in trade, especially from the House Builders.
“We are hopeful this will continue for the rest of the year and into 2025 and with probability of further cuts in interest rates, albeit modest, we look forward to further signs of recovery across the sector.”
The BMF’s BMBI is drawn from 88 per cent of builders’ merchants sales throughout the country, using GfK’s point of sale tracking data to make it one of the most reliable measures of sales activity for the sector.
BMF CEO John Newcomb said:
“The building materials sector reflects the ‘mood of the nation’ around home repair, maintenance and improvement and our BMBI analysis monitors both national trends and regional variances.
“Nationally, the total merchants value sales for the three months July to September were -2.6% lower than the same three months last year, while the total sales for January to September 2024 were -5.1% compared to the same time period in 2023.
“However, total value sales for Q3 2024 were +1.7% up compared to the previous three months, with volume sales increasing by +2.3% and prices -0.6% lower.”