Builders' Merchants News

What Builders' Merchants News does

Builders' Merchants News (BMN) is a UK trade media brand serving the building materials supply chain, established in 1976 and operated by the privately held publishing company Hemming Group Ltd (registered in England and Wales, company number 00490200). It functions as the self-described 'trusted voice' for the sector, covering merchants, suppliers, construction, trade bodies, buying groups, product news and personnel moves. The product portfolio spans BMN Magazine (print and digital), a dedicated news website, daily email newsletters, the BMN On The Road video and podcast series hosted on YouTube, the annual Builders' Merchants Awards (24th edition in 2025, record attendance, 750+ industry leaders), BMN Events roundtables and a People section tracking industry appointments.

The underlying platform is a conventional multi-channel digital publishing stack combining website content management, newsletter delivery, video/podcast production and events management infrastructure; no proprietary AI, data products or APIs are disclosed. BMN maintains formal 'Working in Partnership' relationships with the three principal sector trade bodies — the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF), the National Merchant Buying Society (NMBS) and the Institute of Builders' Merchants (IoBM) — and in March 2026 added a strategic partnership with Red Flag Alert to provide financial risk intelligence to merchants.

Revenue is generated through three primary streams: print and digital subscriptions (handled via subscribe.buildersmerchantsnews.co.uk), advertising and sponsorship across website, newsletter and magazine, and a media pack of branded content and features. The commercial centre of gravity is the annual awards sponsorship programme plus integrated advertising buys aimed at building materials suppliers and manufacturers seeking reach into the UK merchant channel. Pricing tiers are not publicly disclosed; subscription enquiries are managed via a Hemming Group contact centre. No external investment, M&A activity or public listing has been identified.

Name

Builders' Merchants News

Legal name

Hemming Group Ltd

Website

https://buildersmerchantsnews.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1976

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Builders' Merchants News is a UK trade media brand, operating since 1976 under Hemming Group Ltd, that delivers news, print magazine, newsletters, video/podcast and the annual Builders' Merchants Awards to building materials merchants, suppliers and trade bodies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Trade Publication

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Business, Finance & Industry Trade Magazines (MPAJAEAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Industry-Specific B2B Trade Show Organizers (THAHABAB)

Keywords

• Trade publication media
• Building materials news
• Industry trade press
• Construction sector journalism
• B2B publishing services

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Print and Digital Subscriptions: BMN Magazine print subscriptions and digital access available through subscribe.buildersmerchantsnews.co.uk. Subscription enquiries handled via phone and email.
2. Advertising and Sponsorship: Advertising opportunities across website, newsletter and magazine. Sponsorship opportunities for Builders' Merchants Awards event, connecting with more than 750 industry leaders.
3. Media Pack and Features: Commercial opportunities including media pack, features list for editorial content, and branded content packages across website, newsletter and magazine.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Builders' Merchants News (BMN) is a multi-platform UK trade publication serving the building materials sector since 1976. It delivers industry news and intelligence through a print and digital magazine, an online news portal covering merchants, suppliers, construction, trade bodies and product news, daily email newsletters, video and podcast content (BMN On The Road), and the annual Builders' Merchants Awards event connecting 750+ industry leaders.

Product overview

Builders' Merchants News is a UK-based trade publication operating as a multi-platform media company serving the building materials sector. The core offering consists of BMN Magazine (print and digital publication), the BMN News Portal (online news website), and BMN On The Road (video/podcast content). Supporting products include the annual Builders' Merchants Awards programme, BMN Events, BMN People (industry appointments coverage), and BMN Newsletters. Commercial services include advertising and sponsorship packages across the website, magazine and events. The portfolio is unified as a comprehensive industry intelligence resource for building materials merchants, suppliers, and trade professionals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Builders' Merchants Awards: The longest-running industry awards program for the building materials sector, featuring record attendance of over 750 industry leaders.
• BMN On The Road
• BMN Magazine

Products and services

• BMN Magazine

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Red Flag AlertcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 March 2026BMN and Red Flag Alert formed a partnership to provide financial risk intelligence to the builders' merchant sector. The partnership aims to highlight challenges around credit risk, fraud risk, and insolvency risk when onboarding new customers. Red Flag Alert provides real-time business intelligence and financial risk insights while BMN contributes industry knowledge and audience reach.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Construction Enquirer: UK-based daily digital news service for the construction industry. Closest comparable to BMN in audience (contractors, merchants, suppliers) and revenue model (digital advertising, newsletters, events), though without BMN's print heritage and merchanting-vertical depth.
• The Construction Index: Long-running UK construction industry news and directory site covering news, jobs, and company data for the building supply chain. Directly comparable to BMN in UK construction-trade-media positioning, with a stronger directory/digital focus and less print/events.
• Housing Today: UK trade publication serving the housing and housebuilding supply chain. Comparable as a UK B2B trade title serving a defined vertical, with similar reliance on advertising, events, and trade partnerships, though focused on housebuilders rather than merchants.
• Professional Builder: UK trade title targeting builders, contractors, and tradespeople. Overlaps with BMN on the construction professional reader and supplier-side advertising pool, though its editorial focus is more on the trades/contractor side than merchanting.

Broad incumbents

• Construction News: Established UK-wide construction industry weekly and digital brand owned by EMAP/Aspermont. Competes for the same supplier-side advertising budgets as BMN but addresses a much broader construction audience, not specialized on merchants.
• Building Magazine: UK construction trade magazine with long heritage covering the building design and construction supply chain. Comparable in multi-channel trade publishing model but positioned higher up the value chain (architects, developers, contractors) than BMN's merchant focus.
• Architects' Journal: UK heritage trade title for architects and the built environment, owned by EMAP. Comparable trade-publishing business model (print, digital, events, awards) but serves an upstream segment of the construction supply chain than BMN.

Others

• Builders (Build UK): UK construction industry trade body representing main contractors. Comparable in that it disseminates intelligence to a defined UK construction vertical and competes for similar trade-body sponsorship and events revenue, though it is membership-driven rather than advertising-driven.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@BMerchantsNews
• Xx.com/BMerchantsNews
• Facebookfacebook.com/BuildersMerchantsNews
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/builders-merchants-news

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Builders' Merchants News