The Pulse – Merchants cautiously positive amid Covid-19 threat
Merchants cautiously positive amid Covid-19 threat
Between the time of interviewing (beginning of March) and the time of writing (end of March), the builders’ merchants’ world has been turned upside down as the Government introduced a series of measures to contain the Coronavirus pandemic. The new measures, and their daily reveal, created a lot of confusion in the last two weeks of March for suppliers and contractors. National merchants closed temporarily to seek clarity from the Government, while other merchants variously stayed open awaiting developments, shut down, or partially closed to provide a skeleton service. Few could foresee the extent of these measures or their knock-on effects.
Merchants, however, were cautiously positive, as they waited to establish the implications for their business and the market.
The Pulse is a monthly trends survey that tracks builders’ merchants’ confidence and prospects over time and is produced by MRA Research, the market research division of MRA Marketing. Find out more here and look out for the next report in the April edition of PBM!
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