Where builders merchant is growing in the UK
1,364 builders merchant outlets across 5 brands are in the h3hex Data Store in the November 2026 release. In the local-area tables Cornwall has the most, with 22, or 0.4 per 10,000 residents; the top 25 local areas together hold 304 (22% of outlets with a mapped local area). The largest like-for-like net gain since the previous release is in New Forest (+1).
Outlet and brand counts are the Data Store's: every brand on sale, with every outlet in its file. The local-area and growth tables count the trading outlets in h3hex's master dataset that map to a local area, so their totals can be lower.
Which local areas have the most builders merchant outlets?
| # | Local area | Outlets | Brands present | Per 10,000 residents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwall | 22 | 3: Jewson, Travis Perkins, MKM Building Supplies | 0.4 |
| 2 | Shropshire | 17 | 4: Huws Gray, Travis Perkins, Jewson, MKM Building Supplies | 0.5 |
| 3 | Gwynedd | 16 | 3: Huws Gray, Travis Perkins, Jewson | 1.3 |
| 4 | ONS area E06000065 | 15 | 3: Jewson, MKM Building Supplies, Travis Perkins | 0.2 |
| 5 | Wiltshire | 15 | 3: Travis Perkins, Jewson, Huws Gray | 0.3 |
| 6 | Birmingham | 14 | 5: Travis Perkins, Selco Builders Warehouse, Huws Gray, Jewson, MKM Building Supplies | 0.1 |
| 7 | ONS area E06000066 | 14 | 4: Travis Perkins, Jewson, Huws Gray, MKM Building Supplies | 0.2 |
| 8 | East Lindsey | 12 | 4: Huws Gray, Jewson, MKM Building Supplies, Travis Perkins | 0.8 |
| 9 | East Suffolk | 12 | 3: Travis Perkins, Jewson, Huws Gray | 0.5 |
| 10 | Highland | 12 | 4: Travis Perkins, Jewson, MKM Building Supplies, Huws Gray | - |
| 11 | Leeds | 12 | 5: Jewson, Huws Gray, Selco Builders Warehouse, Travis Perkins, MKM Building Supplies | 0.1 |
| 12 | North Northamptonshire | 12 | 4: Huws Gray, Travis Perkins, Jewson, MKM Building Supplies | 0.3 |
| 13 | Buckinghamshire | 11 | 3: Travis Perkins, Jewson, Huws Gray | 0.2 |
| 14 | Cheshire East | 11 | 4: Travis Perkins, Jewson, MKM Building Supplies, Huws Gray | 0.3 |
| 15 | Dorset | 11 | 3: Travis Perkins, Jewson, MKM Building Supplies | 0.3 |
| 16 | East Riding of Yorkshire | 11 | 4: MKM Building Supplies, Jewson, Travis Perkins, Huws Gray | 0.3 |
| 17 | Northumberland | 11 | 3: Jewson, MKM Building Supplies, Travis Perkins | 0.3 |
| 18 | Stockport | 11 | 3: Jewson, Travis Perkins, Huws Gray | 0.4 |
| 19 | Glasgow City | 10 | 4: Jewson, Travis Perkins, Huws Gray, MKM Building Supplies | - |
| 20 | ONS area E06000063 | 10 | 3: Travis Perkins, MKM Building Supplies, Huws Gray | 0.4 |
| 21 | ONS area E06000064 | 10 | 4: Travis Perkins, Jewson, MKM Building Supplies, Huws Gray | 0.4 |
| 22 | County Durham | 9 | 3: Jewson, MKM Building Supplies, Travis Perkins | 0.2 |
| 23 | Dumfries and Galloway | 9 | 3: Jewson, MKM Building Supplies, Travis Perkins | - |
| 24 | West Suffolk | 9 | 4: Travis Perkins, Huws Gray, Jewson, MKM Building Supplies | 0.5 |
| 25 | Argyll and Bute | 8 | 4: Huws Gray, Jewson, MKM Building Supplies, Travis Perkins | - |
Local areas are local authority districts. Brands present shows how many brands have an outlet there and the five with the most.
Which local areas added the most builders merchant outlets?
| # | Local area | Net change | Previous release | This release | All outlets now |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Forest | +1 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| 2 | Cornwall | 0 | 22 | 22 | 22 |
| 3 | Shropshire | 0 | 17 | 17 | 17 |
| 4 | Gwynedd | 0 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| 5 | Wiltshire | 0 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| 6 | ONS area E06000065 | 0 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| 7 | ONS area E06000066 | 0 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| 8 | Birmingham | 0 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| 9 | North Northamptonshire | 0 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| 10 | East Lindsey | 0 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| 11 | East Suffolk | 0 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| 12 | Highland | 0 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| 13 | East Riding of Yorkshire | 0 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| 14 | Cheshire East | 0 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| 15 | Northumberland | 0 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
Net change in outlets for brands present in both releases, for local areas with at least 5 outlets in the sector. No brand in this sector is new to this release.
How these figures are made
Counts are h3hex's own store-by-store record of each brand's published UK locations for the brands listed in the Builders merchant sector of the h3hex data store, November 2026 release (scrape window 30 Oct - 3 Nov 2026), page built 2026-11-12. Closed, pre-opening and head-office records are left out. 3 outlets with no mappable postcode are counted in the totals but not in the local-area tables. 4 districts created in 2023 are shown by their ONS code because the postcode lookup used here carries no name for them. Net change compares this release with the 29 October 2026 edition of the same dataset and reflects openings and closures as well as improved coverage of each brand's own locator. Resident population is Census 2021 usual-resident population by output area, summed to local authority district through the ONS postcode-to-output-area lookup (May 2024). The population table does not join to the lookup for districts in Northern Ireland and Scotland, so outlets per 10,000 residents is shown as - for them.
Use the data
Prospect site reports assess a single address against these brands, and the data store sells the builders merchant store lists brand by brand or as a sector bundle.
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How many builders merchant outlets are there in the UK?
h3hex tracks 1,364 branded builders merchant outlets from 5 brands in the UK as at the November 2026 release. In the local-area tables, Cornwall has the most, with 22.
Which builders merchant brands are growing?
Between the previous release and the November 2026 release, the brand adding the most outlets was MKM Building Supplies (+1).
Which builders merchant brands have the most UK outlets?
Travis Perkins (529), Jewson (386) and Huws Gray (232), as at the November 2026 release.