There is no denying that 2025 has been a very challenging year for the Builders Merchants sector. Much has been made of all the ongoing challenges on a wider level, whether that is macroeconomic, geopolitical, insufficient government assistance or prohibitive regulatory frameworks. Despite this the year has still ended in value growth of +0.5%, which is a testament to the dedication and hard work by both merchants and tradespeople.
Both volume and average price shifts have been relatively flat, sitting at +1.5% and -1.0% respectively. Of more concern is the quarterly value growth trend compared to the previous year. Both Q1 and Q2 were positive at +0.7% and +2.6% respectively, but there has now been two consecutive quarters of decline, with Q3 down by -0.3% and Q4 decreasing further to -1.2%.
Heavy Building Materials ended the full year with a value decline of -0.5%. Volume was up +1.2% and average price down by -1.7%. The main contributors to these declines were blocks, insulation, plasterboard and roofing products. Aggregates, bricks and cement were key areas of growth. Q4 itself was down -3.9% against 2024 Q4, with blocks and roofing product especially affected. One positive to note has been volume growth for both aggregates and insulation in Q4.
Timber & Joinery and Landscaping both managed to see full year value growth, ending 2025 at +1.6% and +2.5% respectively. The underlying data for the former shows timber being one of the best performing areas across all subcategories, with both volume and average price growing. Cladding also had a positive year, while doors, roof windows and sheet materials all saw declines within Timber & Joinery. For Landscaping almost all of its subcategories saw growth this year, with the best performing being fencing & gates. It is however worth mentioning that Landscaping Q4 value was down by -0.9% against 2024 Q4, again highlighting a difficult quarter for the whole sector.
Renewables & Water Management was the best performing category for the year, increasing by +5.7%. Plumbing, Heating & Electrical was up by +1.8%, while Services also increased by +3.1%. Both were also the best performing categories in Q4. The underlying data in the former shows boilers, tanks, heating equipment and heat pumps being areas that contributed to growth in 2025. Decorating was the category with the largest value decline in 2025, down by -2.6%.
2026 has continued on the challenging path seen in 2025, with any form of growth likely to be seen as a win by merchants. Downwards revised figures by the CPA only confirms that, while the weather in January and February has already not helped. There is hope that 2026 could improve as the year progresses, but for this to happen there would need to be drastic changes in some of the global and local issues currently experienced.
