Builders’ merchant

Builders’ merchants sell building and do-it-yourself products and materials to the building trade and the public.
Salary Range: £16,000 to £30,000

How to become a builders’ merchant
You can get into this job through:
- an apprenticeship
- applying directly

Apprenticeship
You could get into this job through a trade supplier intermediate apprenticeship.
Entry requirements
You’ll usually need:
- some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
More information

Direct application
You could apply directly to work as a builders’ merchant. You may find it useful to have GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), including maths and English. Experience in construction, warehousing or retail could be helpful.
More information
Further information
You can find out more about working as a builders’ merchant from Building Materials Careers and the Builders Merchants Federation.

What it takes
Skills and knowledge
You’ll need:
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- the ability to work well with others
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- customer service skills
- the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
- excellent verbal communication skills
- the ability to work well with your hands
- physical skills like movement, coordination, dexterity and grace
- to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
Restrictions and requirements
You’ll need to:
- have forklift truck driver training for some jobs
For some jobs you’ll need to have a C1 licence to drive trucks up to 7.5 tonnes.

What you’ll do
Day-to-day tasks
Your day-to-day tasks could include:
- giving product information to customers
- loading and unloading deliveries by hand or with a forklift truck
- processing orders and handling payments
- moving goods to storage areas
- putting orders together and organising deliveries
- advising customers about which materials to use
Working environment
You could work at a builder’s yard or at a store.
Your working environment may be physically demanding and outdoors in all weathers.
You may need to wear protective clothing.

Career path and progression
With experience, you could progress to supervisor or manager.
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