MKM Building Supplies has acquired the builders' merchant business of New Milton Sand and Ballast, creating MKM New Milton, a deal that matters to building and architecture professionals because it shows the UK's largest independent builders' merchant continuing to acquire, rather than replicate, established local trade relationships as it grows its branch footprint. The deal expands MKM's branch network to 149 locations.

MKM Building Supplies is the UK's leading independent builders' merchant, supplying building materials, timber, plumbing and heating, and kitchens and bathrooms from branches nationwide, with revenue up 12 per cent to £1.1 billion in the year to September 2025.

New Milton Sand and Ballast is a Hampshire-based, family-founded producer and supplier of aggregates, concrete and merchanting supplies, operating from its Caird Avenue site in New Milton since the 1940s.

Matt Lock and Richard Froggett, both longstanding NMSB team members, will lead the new branch as directors, with existing staff retained and new roles expected as investment plans to expand the site to 12,500 sq ft proceed.

The structural driver is sustained consolidation across the UK builders' merchant sector, where the major groups now account for an estimated 72 per cent of the market, with independents such as Robert Price, Beggs & Partners and Howarth all completing similar bolt-on acquisitions this year alongside MKM's own expansion.

For the sector, the timing matters because MKM continues to retain acquired teams and branding at branch level, as it has done here with Matt Lock and Richard Froggett staying on as directors, a model that preserves local trade relationships while giving the branch access to a far larger group's stock range and buying power.

Reaching 149 locations keeps MKM's expansion pace consistent with recent openings in Wellingborough, Sidcup and Luton, showing the group pursuing both greenfield branches and acquisitions simultaneously rather than favouring one route over the other.

The broader implication for the sector is that specialist regional merchants with strong local reputations, such as NMSB's decades-old aggregates and concrete business, remain attractive acquisition targets precisely because their trade relationships are difficult for larger groups to replicate through new branch openings alone.

Source: Daily Echo / TheBusinessDesk.com / Build News