BMF Members benefit from a number of exclusive reports that enable independent merchants to benchmark performance against their peers.  How would you measure up?
16 October 2019

The BMF’s Key Performance Indicators Report is one of a suite of survey reports available only to BMF members.  It analyses ratios such as sales growth, trading margins, sales from stock, gross profit, net profit, sales and profit per employee, transport costs, bad debts and other key indicators.

The 2019 BMF KPI Report for the 12 months ending April 2019 has just been published following a survey carried out among BMF members in mid-2019. Member returns covered the periods to their year ends that fell between 1 May 2018 and 30 April 2019. The ratios used within the report are a selection from the full survey findings, using a core sample of participants that enables a true like for like comparison with previous years ratios.

Although the period covered mirrors the final stages of Theresa May’s Brexit negotiations and failure to pass her deal through Parliament.  While this undoubtedly weighed on consumer confidence, the impact on merchant performance appears to be limited. The industry’s resilience is reflected in a 9.9% increase in sales despite continuing political and economic uncertainty.  That said, the previous year’s double digit growth has declined to single digit growth.

Trading margins at 29% also decreased slightly continuing a downward trend, down from 29.4% in 2018 and 30.3% in 2017. Reflecting this, net profitability in 2019 also declined by 0.7%. However, sales per employee continued an upward trajectory, increasing by 3.1% on the previous year. Gross profit per employee also increased.

Another BMF annual survey, again based on member returns, reports on remuneration in independent merchants. The latest BMF Remuneration Report shows salaries, wages paid and benefits given to merchant members’ staff – detailed for each specific job role - as at 1 April 2019, for each of the thirteen UK Standard Planning Regions and nationally.

The BMF Remuneration Report also includes employee statistics providing further useful indicators such as employee churn within the industry, gender diversity and apprentices joining the industry.  

While there are regional differences, the national male:female employee ratio this year is a disappointing 84% male to 16% female – a disappointing drop in female representation from the 81:19 percentage ratio reported in the 2018 survey.  On a more positive note, for the first time the 2019 Remuneration Report includes a separate gender ratio for apprentices.  The national ratio here, 73% male to 27% female, may at least point to greater equality in future. 

Also in the suite of member exclusive reports, the BMF State of Trade Survey, is a quarterly publication measuring confidence within the market. Merchant members complete the survey and responses are collaged to create the report which focuses on sales, costs, investment, employment and, of course, Brexit.

Other reports are available free of charge to BMF members but with a cover charge to non-members. These include the new Builders Merchant Industry Forecast, which launched earlier this year and is published quarterly.  Unlike the reports mentioned earlier this is not based on member returns. The data is taken from a unique forecasting model specifically aligned to the UK merchant sector that has been developed to support BMF members in future planning by providing consistent updates on forecasted sales.

While most forecast models tend to be based on lag indicators, taking what happened last year to predict what could happen next year, the BMF model incorporates a number of lead indicators to signal future events that will impact the building materials market, making it possible for merchants and their suppliers to forecast their customers’ requirements more accurately.

These reports are among the many services provided to BMF members. To find out more about the full benefits of membership and how to join, click here

You can read more about BMF’s suite of reports here or contact Nyssa Patel, BMF Industry Analyst/Economist at [email protected].


This article first appeared in the October 2019 edition of Builders Merchants Journal (BMJ)