MERCHANT FOCUS: KENT BUILDERS MERCHANTS A GROWTH MINDSET
Oliver Stanley visits a recently founded independent merchant to find out about the challenges of establishing a business in today’s industry.
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n an ever-changing industry, keeping up with demand and trends is vital, but for new businesses it is arguably even more so. As the operation gets established, it must juggle both setting up its foundations and meeting customer demand.
Kent Builders Merchants recently celebrated its first year in business, and has fresh insight into setting up a new business in today’s industry.
Director and co-owner Jamie McDaid explains: “It’s very cliched, but every day here is different. As a new business, the structure is slowly forming. We are an independent builders merchants, brand new as of January 2025.
“A year ago in the yard, there wasn’t a bit of stock. We got the lorries, got the stock, and got rolling.”
“The four directors have all been involved in builders merchanting for a long time. I worked in DIY retail for Wickes as a DIY retailer, then as a national builders merchant for Jewson. More recently, I was working for another independent business. We all took this venture between us, and is has been going well so far.
Teamwork
“Our team is here from 5.30am in order to get all the lorries out. In the first year, operating as a startup has been very much a case of all hands-on deck. It’s a mixture of a lot of vehicles coming in, delivering products to us, and a lot of our vehicles going in and out all day long so we can accommodate as many collections we can.
“We are still quite a small team, so my role involves anything from serving on the counter to processing invoices, or filling up in the yard. As we grow, we will probably have more of a traditional structure.
“We have 15 employees now, including the directors, who all live locally. We have a good local customer base that we’ve known for a long time. We know the people and we know the local industry.
“In our first year, we hit a turnover that was just short of £5m, which we were really happy with. We’re currently extending the shop downstairs to make a bigger area for our customers to shop for lightside products. For
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“A year ago in the yard, there wasn’t a bit of stock. We got the lorries, got the stock, and got rolling.”
the heavyside customers, we have almost two full yards where we have extended into next door.
“We aim to cater to anyone doing any building work in the local area. That might be someone doing some DIY at home, or a sole trader builder who does one extension at a time, all the way up to customers that are building multiple plots. I wouldn’t say there’s one specific avenue that we target. “We have a small offering, for specialists like plumbers and electricians, for example, but our main focus is on anything that is required to build a house from a structural point of view.
“We have a good range across all those categories, and we are in the process of trying to show the range off in a better way. We are currently extending the shop area, and we are probably going to have some more displays with the landscaping materials. The range is roughly where we think it needs to be, but obviously that will always evolve with current trends. That is especially the case with landscaping.
“In terms of expanding beyond the branch, we want to get our feet properly settled here before we look further afield. But I’m sure in the future, that will be in the plans depending on the opportunity.
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net April 2026
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