Builders' merchants have reported a double-digit increase in June, with average daily sales up 11.2% up on June 2017. Their performance reinforces today's release of ONS data that has found construction output grew by 0.9% in Quarter 2 on 2018.

The data on builders' merchants is produced for the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) through the 'Builders Merchants Building Index' (BMBI) which tracks builders' merchants' actual sales using GfK data.

It found that total builders' merchants' sales in the first six months of 2018 increased by 4.0% over the same six months in 2017. The data also showed that average sales a day in the second quarter of 2018 were 18.7% higher than in the first quarter. The rise was led by a significant increase in landscaping sales, driven by the warm weather, with the ONS also finding there to have been an increase in Q2 in repair and maintenance work.

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The BMF state that their merchants' set of results indicate that the building materials supply chain is working well, and fulfilling demand across the country being fuelled by construction and housebuilding projects.

John Newcomb, Chief Executive of the BMF, said: "Our members continue to deliver an effective and robust building materials supply chain, and I'm pleased to see this demonstrated through the BMBI and ONS construction data released today. As we predicted, the better weather has led to an increase in demand for home improvement projects. Major construction projects continue to drive sales for builders' merchants across the country and our members are doing an excellent job ensuring we get the right materials in the right place."

(MH/CM)