2022 SALES, BUT INFLATION DRIVES GROWTH

Barometer shows how far it has to recover. Confidence fell 3 points in January to -45, a near-historic low. That’s not surprising given how battered and bruised is a large section of the population. Interestingly perhaps as an indicator of how the Haves, older homeowners who’ve paid off or nearly paid off their mortgages, are feeling, the Savings Index (which is not a component of the confidence index) is still positive at +14, just one point down on January last year. That’s some contrast with the precipitous drop in overall consumer confidence from -19 in January 2022 to -45 in January 2023. Whichever way you cut it, it’ll be a difficult year ahead.”

Developed and run by MRA Research, the BMBI – a brand of the Builders Merchant Federation – is a monthly index of builders’ merchant sales, and the most reliable, up-to-date measure of Repair, Maintenance, and Improvement (RMI) activity in the UK. The index is based on actual sales from GfK’s Builders’ Merchant Point of Sale Tracking Data, which captures value sales out to builders from generalist builders’ merchants, accounting for over 80% of total sales from builders’ merchants throughout Great Britain. An in-depth review, which includes commentary by sector experts, is provided each quarter.

The Q4 2022 BMBI report is available to download at www.bmbi.co.uk.

SPONSORED CONTENT FROM BMBI/MRA RESEARCH