UK trade accounts · account facts, not prices

Builders' merchant trade accounts compared

What a trade account actually gets you at 7 major UK builders' merchants: account types, credit terms, delivery thresholds and what proof of business you need, checked against each merchant's own page. Not a discount-price comparison, and not a ranking.

Page updated 15 Sept 2026Merchant facts checked against source 11 Sept 2026 to 15 Sept 2026Method and sources

The short answer

A trade account is not one thing. Most of the merchants we checked split it into a no-credit tier (cash, web login or membership) and a separate credit tier, though the exact split varies. Screwfix, for instance, publishes only a credit-account tier on the page we checked. The actual terms, not just the discount, vary enough to be worth checking before you apply.

5 of the 7 merchants checked publish “up to 60 days” interest-free credit as their standard credit-account term: Jewson, Selco, MKM, Toolstation, Screwfix. The others publish shorter or unpublished terms, see the full table below. This is the longest published figure among the seven, not a claim that it fits your business better than the others.

Negotiated trade discount percentages are generally unpublished and individually agreed rather than listed on a public rate card, which is why they aren't a column in this comparison. Toolstation is the one exception we found: it publishes a flat, standard 5% discount with no minimum spend as part of its Trade Club Credit scheme.

Full comparison

Every field below is either a fact stated on the merchant's own official page, or marked as not published where it isn't. Nothing here is scraped SKU pricing or a negotiated discount rate.

UK builders' merchant trade account comparison: account types, access, proof of business, credit terms, delivery, collection, pricing, multi-user support and notable services, checked 11 Sept 2026 to 15 Sept 2026.
Merchant	Account types	Public vs trade-only	Proof of business	Credit terms	Delivery	Collection	Pricing	Multi-user	Notable services
Travis Perkins	Cash account, Credit account	Not stated as trade-only. Sign-up is positioned for tradespeople but the account pages checked don't describe a proof-of-trade gate.	Not published on the pages checked (the credit application form itself was not completed this pass).	Credit account: minimum 30 days' interest-free credit (terms apply). Cash account: pay as you go, no credit application.	Free branch delivery when you spend £100 inc VAT, stated on the trade account benefits page. A separate, general site-wide banner advertises free next-day delivery on orders over £150. These read as two different delivery services (local branch delivery vs. next-day), not one figure stated two ways, but both are reproduced here since they come from different official pages.	Free Click & Collect within one hour (general site-wide feature, not account-specific).	Personalised trade prices from sign-up; discounts already agreed in-branch carry through to the online account.	Shared access: add multiple users to the same account.	Dedicated account manager (credit accounts); no tool-hire deposit for credit account holders (cash account holders pay a refundable deposit); usable at Benchmarx Kitchens & Joinery branches; TP App.
Jewson	Cash account, Credit account, Self-Build account, Web login	Not stated as trade-only. Messaging targets both trade professionals and self-builders; the Choose account page checked doesn't describe a proof-of-trade gate.	Not published on the Choose account page checked.	Credit account: up to 60 days' interest-free credit. Self-Build account: Jewson's own official pages disagree on the starting credit limit, see otherConflict. Cash account: no credit, pay at point of purchase. Web login alone carries no credit.(source conflict)	Free delivery on online orders over £150 (ex VAT), per Jewson's dedicated delivery and collection page, with a £20 (ex VAT) fee for orders between £100 and £150, applied the same regardless of account type, plus a temporary £4 (ex VAT) fuel surcharge from 23 April 2026.(source conflict)	Click & collect at 400+ branches.	Individualised, lower prices for cash and credit account holders versus list price; a Web login alone does not carry personalised pricing.	Not published on the page checked.	Existing in-branch accounts can be linked to a new online login using the account number from an invoice or statement; most account types are active within 2 days or less (Web login is immediate).
Selco	Trade Card (cash account), Credit account	Trade-only. Registration requires proof you are a genuine tradesperson or business owner.	An explicit list of accepted documents is published: any one of a business card, headed letterhead, compliment slip, certificate of incorporation, company invoice/order form, VAT certificate, CSCS card, trade reference, company bank statement, and several other listed alternatives.	Credit account: up to 60 days' interest-free credit, limits starting at £1,500, approval typically in 5–7 days. Trade Card (cash): no credit, pay at point of purchase, activated the same day.	Click & Deliver: free on orders over £150 (ex VAT). Dial & Deliver (phone ordering): cost not published on the page checked.	Click & Collect for immediate in-branch pickup, available the same day as registration.	Access to over 15,000 lines of trade-only pricing, not available to non-account customers, on both account types.	Not published on the page checked.	In-branch trade services such as brick matching and paint mixing; monthly statements for credit account holders.
MKM	Cash Account, Trade Credit Account.	Not stated as trade-only. Targets tradespeople across several trades and self-builders; no proof-of-trade gate is described on the pages checked.	Not published on the pages checked.	MKM's sign-up page states the Trade Credit Account offers "up to 60 days interest free credit", with a flexible limit from £1,000, typically approved within 24 hours. The Cash Account has no credit application and can be opened and used instantly.	Free local delivery with no minimum order value. The Cash Account page states this applies within the selected branch's coverage area (availability varies by branch): a coverage-area model rather than a spend threshold.	Click & collect at 130+ branches.	Personalised trade prices on the Trade Credit Account; the Cash Account is described as "consistent fair pricing", both lower than standard retail.	Not published on the pages checked.	MKM mobile app; an estimating/take-off service; tool and equipment hire; a "Tradeshake" contract-management partnership; a Rewards Club scheme.
Huws Gray	Web account, Cash account, Credit account	Explicitly "Trade & DIY welcome" on all three published account tiers.	Not published for the Web or Cash tiers. The Credit account is described elsewhere on the site as opened "at the discretion of the Company subject to satisfactory credit references", not a fixed document list.	Credit account: up to 30 days' interest-free credit, active within 5–7 working days. Cash account: pay as you go, no credit application. Web account: no credit.	Free delivery on orders over £150, stated consistently across the Web, Cash and Credit account tiers on the same page.	Click & Collect at your local branch.	Trade prices apply online and in-branch for the Cash and Credit tiers; the Web account's own pricing model is not detailed separately on the page checked.	Not published on the page checked.	230+ branches nationwide; accelerated online checkout for the Web account tier.
Toolstation	Toolstation Club (general), Trade Club Credit (a credit tier layered on top of Club membership)	Not trade-only. Trade Club Credit sits inside the general, consumer-accessible Toolstation Club, but proof-of-trade documents are required specifically to activate the credit tier.	Full company/proprietor details (including company registration number where applicable), a valid photo ID (driving licence or passport), proof of address, a utility bill or bank statement dated within the last 3 months, and proof of trade ID (a business invoice, headed letter or business card).	Trade Club Credit: up to 60 days' interest-free credit; payment due at the end of the month following the invoice month, plus 30 days from the invoice date. Applications typically processed within 5 working days.	Unlimited free next-business-day delivery is included with Trade Club membership, regardless of order value: a membership model, not a spend threshold. Toolstation's separate, general (non-Trade-Club) delivery offer is free on orders over £40, which is not an account-specific term.	Click & Collect in as little as 5 minutes, at Toolstation branches (not restricted to Trade Club members).	A flat, published discount of 5% off all purchases with no minimum spend, as a standard Trade Club Credit scheme rather than an individually negotiated rate.	Team members can be added to the account for shared purchasing; additional cardholders can place orders and view only their own purchases, while the main account holder sees all financial information.	All general Toolstation Club perks are bundled in, not exclusive to the credit tier.
Screwfix	Trade Credit Account (via Trade UK)	Not trade-only. Described as open to "businesses of all sizes", explicitly including tradespeople, PLC companies, schools, government bodies and charities.	Company registration number (for a limited company, PLC or charity) or owner/partner details (sole trader or general partnership), full trading address and contact details, bank details, and the names/addresses for any trade cards issued.	Up to 60 days' free credit; payment must be made by the last day of the month following the month in which the purchase was made.	Not published on the Trade Credit Account page checked. Screwfix's general site-wide delivery and collection terms are a separate, non-account-specific offer and weren't treated as an account term for this comparison.	Not published on the account page checked; Screwfix's general Click & Collect service applies site-wide.	Not published on the account page checked.	Extra cards for employees.	No annual fee; monthly statements; a dedicated account support team; VAT-approved itemised invoices.

Table scrolls horizontally on narrow screens. “Not published on the page checked” means exactly that, not that the merchant doesn't offer it.

Where official sources disagree

We reproduce official figures as published rather than guessing which one is current when a merchant's own pages don't agree with each other.

Jewson

Credit account: up to 60 days' interest-free credit. Self-Build account: Jewson's own official pages disagree on the starting credit limit, see otherConflict. Cash account: no credit, pay at point of purchase. Web login alone carries no credit.

Jewson's own Choose account page states the Self-Build account opens with £10,000 of credit, while Jewson's separate Jewson Services page states the Self-Build account offers up to £20,000 of credit. We have not resolved this discrepancy ourselves; both figures are reproduced as published on their respective official pages, checked the same day.

Free delivery on online orders over £150 (ex VAT), per Jewson's dedicated delivery and collection page, with a £20 (ex VAT) fee for orders between £100 and £150, applied the same regardless of account type, plus a temporary £4 (ex VAT) fuel surcharge from 23 April 2026.

Jewson's own Choose account page separately states free delivery on orders over £100 (ex VAT) for a cash account, a different threshold to the £150 stated on the delivery and collection page. We have not resolved this discrepancy ourselves; both figures are reproduced as published on their respective official pages, checked the same day.

How to decide

There is no single “best” trade account here, only trade-offs against what your business actually needs. Four objective, criterion-led starting points from the facts above:

Need the longest interest-free run

Jewson, Selco, MKM, Toolstation, Screwfix all publish up to 60 days' interest-free credit on their standard credit account, the longest figure any of the seven merchants checked put in writing.

Need to start buying today, no application

Travis Perkins, Jewson, Selco, MKM, Huws Gray and Toolstation each publish a cash, web or membership-level tier with no credit application, active immediately or within a few minutes. Screwfix's own trade account page covers only its credit-account tier, with no separate cash or web tier published there.

Want a hard trade-only gate

Selco explicitly require proof you're a tradesperson or business before you can register at all. The others don't describe a proof-of-trade gate on the pages we checked, even though their pricing is still trade-focused.

Need several people buying on one account

Travis Perkins, Toolstation and Screwfix all publish some form of multi-user or extra-card support on their trade account. The other four don't mention it on the pages checked, which doesn't rule it out, just means it wasn't stated where we looked.

Whichever account fits, run the actual numbers for a job through the job price and margin calculator once you have a real quote, and check current material price trends if you're deciding whether now is a good time to buy ahead.

Method, limits and sources

Every fact on this page was checked directly against the named merchant's own official page, not a third-party summary, forum post or price-comparison blog. Each merchant row is rechecked and dated individually rather than all in one pass, so as of this page's last update the checks currently on the page span 11 Sept 2026 to 15 Sept 2026, not a single shared check date. Where a merchant didn't publish an answer to one of our fields, the table says so rather than leaving it blank or estimating.

What this page does and does not represent

It does represent: published account mechanics, credit-term structure, delivery thresholds and proof-of-business requirements, reproduced from each merchant's own current page.
It does not represent: negotiated trade discount percentages, live SKU or basket pricing, branch-by-branch variation, or a ranked “best merchant” verdict. None of these seven accounts is scored or recommended over another.
Update policy: we recheck merchants against their own current official pages individually and update each row in place as it's rechecked, rather than rechecking all seven on one date or publishing a new page per recheck. The “merchant facts checked against source” date above reflects the earliest and latest of those per-merchant checks currently on the page.

This page compares published account mechanics only. It is not a quotation, credit offer, or purchasing advice, and TBV holds no commercial or affiliate relationship with any merchant named on this page.

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