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A bathroom floor laid in large white marble-effect hexagon tiles beside a dark vanity unit

Tiling Trade News: Victorian Plumbing Tile Sales Up 76%

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A fortnight of tiling and bathroom trade news, read from the homeowner’s side. The two big bathroom retailers have reported their year, and tiles were the bright spot for one of them. A familiar tool brand now sells adhesive and grout, new research says a third of homeowners have put off a bathroom, and the official figures show repair work holding up while new building slips.

Victorian Plumbing’s tile and flooring sales rose 76% to £31m

Victorian Plumbing’s full-year trading update, published on 13 October, put group revenue up about 11% to roughly £344m for the year to 30 September. Tiles and flooring was the fastest-growing part of the business: revenue there rose about 76%, from £17.6m to around £31m. Orders were up about 13%, but the average order value fell about 5%. The company says the wider repair, maintenance and improvement market shrank by 1.7% over the same year. Full results are due on 8 December.

Why it matters: more people are buying tiles from bathroom retailers online, often alongside the suite. That is fine for the tile itself, but online tile orders are where shade batches, overage and adhesive compatibility go wrong. Order 10% over for straight lay, keep the batch numbers, and check the adhesive suits the tile and the wall before the fitter turns up. Source: Victorian Plumbing Group trading update, 13 October 2026.

Topps Tiles held its sales flat in a market that fell 1.7%

Topps Tiles’ year-end update for the 52 weeks to 26 September, reported by the Tile Association’s Tilezine on 7 October, showed Topps Tiles revenue (excluding its CTD business) of about £267m, up 0.7%. Like-for-like sales were down 0.1%, with the final quarter hit by spells of extreme heat and September improving. Its trade tools arm, Pro Tiler Tools, had record revenue of about £42m, up 18.2%. Including CTD, group revenue was about £292m, down 1.3%, after store closures. Online now makes up about 22.7% of group revenue for the year.

Why it matters: the biggest specialist tile chain is standing still while its online tools business grows fast. For homeowners that means plenty of stock and active promotions going into winter, which is usually the better time to book a tiler anyway. Source: Tilezine, 7 October 2026.

Tile Rite now supplies LATICRETE and Benfer adhesives and grouts

Tile Rite, the family-run tiling tools supplier that has sold to the UK trade since 1989, became a Premium Partner for LATICRETE Benfer UK this month. From October 2026 it stocks the LATICRETE and Benfer ranges: tile adhesives, grouts, screeds, self-levelling compounds and waterproofing systems. Tile Rite says this lets trade shops and tilers buy everything from substrate preparation to final finish from one supplier.

Why it matters: you will start to see these products on more trade counters and in more quotes. A tiler who uses one manufacturer’s tanking, adhesive and grout together can usually offer that maker’s system warranty, which is worth asking about on a wet room or shower. Our tile adhesive explainer covers which type suits which job. Source: Tilezine, 7 October 2026.

36% of homeowners say they have postponed a bathroom renovation

A survey of 2,000 UK homeowners by lender Evolution Money, reported by kbbreview on 12 October, found 67% had delayed a home improvement because they could not afford it. A bathroom renovation was the most commonly postponed project (36%), ahead of a kitchen (33%). Only 34% had a dedicated home improvement savings pot, and of those, 75% had less than £10,000 saved. Evolution Money’s own analysis of third-party cost data puts a basic bathroom renovation at an average of £5,725.

Why it matters: this is survey data from a finance company, so treat it as a mood reading rather than a census. But it matches what installers report: people are still renovating, just in stages. If budget is the barrier, retiling a shower enclosure or one feature wall costs a fraction of a full refit, and our shower tiling walkthrough shows what that job involves. Source: kbbreview, 12 October 2026.

Repair and maintenance work grew 0.4% in August while new building fell

The Office for National Statistics’ construction output figures, published on 15 October, show total output down 0.2% in August, the fourth monthly fall in a row. All of that came from new work, which fell 0.7%, led by private new housing (down 1.9%). Repair and maintenance grew 0.4% in the month. Over the three months to August, output fell 1.0%.

Why it matters: the repair and improvement side, which is where bathroom and tiling work sits, is the part of construction still growing month to month. Good tilers in Bromley stay busy through quiet patches in new-build, so book early if you want a job done before Christmas. Source: ONS, Construction output in Great Britain: August 2026.

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