Grafton Group

Last updated

Grafton Group plc
Company type Public limited company
IndustryBuilding materials
Founded1902;122 years ago (1902)
Headquarters Dublin, Ireland
Key people
Michael Roney (Chairman)
Eric Born (CEO)
RevenueIncrease2.svg 2,319.2 million (2023) [1]
Decrease2.svg 183.1 million (2023) [1]
Decrease2.svg 148.7 million (2023) [1]
Website graftonplc.com

Grafton Group plc is a builders merchants business based in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

Contents

History

The company was established by William Chadwick as Chadwicks (Dublin) Ltd in 1902. [2] It subsequently became Concrete Products of Ireland. [3] It was the subject of an initial public offering in 1965 and building materials company Marley subsequently took a 51% stake. [3] Michael Chadwick bought out Marley and renamed the business Grafton Group in 1987. [3]

In March 1998, it bought British Dredging, a United Kingdom builders merchants. [4] In February 2003, it bought Jackson Building Centres, another British builders merchants, based in Lincolnshire. [3]

In October 2003, it also bought Plumbline, Scotland's largest independent plumbers merchants. [5] In June 2004, it bought Heiton Group, Ireland’s largest independent plumbers merchants. [6] In December 2006, it then bought Plumbworld, one of the United Kingdom’s largest online bathroom retailers. [7]

In August 2013, it bought Wearside builders' merchant Thompsons, [8] in October 2013, it bought Binje Ackermans, a Brussels based merchanting operation, [9] and in December 2013, Grafton Group opened ten showrooms, and launched a brand new website called Bohen, which focuses on the bathroom, kitchen and bedroom industry. [10]

Then in September 2014, it bought Direct Builders Merchants, a general merchanting business based in Kent [11] and in December 2014, it bought Crescent Building Supplies, a builders' merchant based in Ruislip. [12] In March 2015, it bought TG Lynes, a distributor of mechanical engineering products, [13] in January 2016, it bought T Brewer, a timber distributor based in London, [14] and in March 2016, it bought Allsand Supplies, a general builders' merchant located in Kent. [15]

Previous logo Grafton Group logo.svg
Previous logo

In January 2022 the company announced the completion of the sale of its merchanting business in the UK to Huws Gray for £520m. Businesses sold include Buildbase, Civils & Lintels, PDM Buildbase, The Timber Group, Bathroom Distribution Group, Frontline and NDI Brands. [16]

Operations

The company currently owns four physical "bricks and mortar" businesses, Woodie's DIY, Civils and Lintels, Selco and Jacksons brands. [17] It also has a number of businesses that trade exclusively online. [18]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Annual Results 2023" (PDF). Grafton Group. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  2. Michael Chadwick: Grafton Group Archived 2013-03-03 at the Wayback Machine Business & Finance, 2010
  3. 1 2 3 4 Beating the Budget blues The Independent, 10 December 2011
  4. "Grafton is tracking British Dredging". www.independent.ie. 10 March 1998.
  5. "Plumbline duo cash in as Grafton enters Scotland". www.scotsman.com. 7 October 2003.
  6. Grafton boosted by Heiton buy Construction News, 13 September 2005
  7. Plumbworld appoint new deputy Managing Director Archived 2013-10-18 at the Wayback Machine Journalism, 13 August 2012
  8. Robert Gibson (29 August 2013). "Thompsons merchants acquired for £3.8m by Grafton group". journallive. Archived from the original on 20 April 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  9. "Grafton Group acquires Binje Ackermans for €20.5m". Independent.ie. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  10. "Campaign unveiled to launch new kitchen, bedroom and bathroom brand Bohen". Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  11. "Grafton Group Buys Kent-Based Direct Builders... - Morningstar". MorningstarUK. Retrieved 9 April 2016.[ permanent dead link ]
  12. Will Ackermann (4 December 2014). "Ruislip-based builders' merchants bought out by multi-billion pound firm". getwestlondon. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  13. "Grafton Group acquires TG Lynes" . Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  14. "Grafton Group acquires London timber firm T Brewer". The Irish Times. 5 January 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  15. "Grafton Group acquires Allsand Supplies" . Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  16. "Grafton Group completes sale of traditional merchanting business in Britain". independent.
  17. Grafton group suffers from bad weather Builders Merchant Journal, 6 May 2010
  18. Grafton Merchanting buys online merchant Archived 18 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine Builder's Merchant News, 30 June 2010