Wolseley UK

Last updated

Wolseley UK is a supplier of building materials, with trade customers (plumbers and builders) accounting for the largest proportion of its sales. Wolseley are the largest trade specialist in plumbing and heating in the UK. [1] It has retail showrooms around the United Kingdom which are open to the general public.

History

The Wolseley business began in 1887 making sheep shearing machinery, by Frederick York Wolseley. [2] Herbert Austin, who had worked on Wolseley's shearing machinery development in Melbourne, Australia from 1887, when he was aged just 20, was appointed its manager and received a share of its equity. [3]

Seeking other suitable products, Austin designed his first car in 1896, and for the next four years, continued to develop and improve his designs. Though the board did allow Austin to purchase some machinery to build cars, they decided around 1900, it was unlikely to be a profitable industry. In 1901, Wolseley's embryo car business was acquired by Vickers, Sons and Maxim. [3]

The postwar rise of synthetic textiles sharply reduced the demand for wool and the necessary machinery, and in 1960, Wolseley diversified activities, by buying Nu Way Heating Limited. Nu Way Burners Limited was founded in 1932 in Vines Lane, Droitwich Spa, Oil Burner Components Limited was founded by Nu Way in 1959, as a national spares organisation. Out of that grew O.B.C. Limited, and then Wolseley Centers Limited, the major distributor of plumbing and central heating equipment. [4] In 1965, Wolseley purchased Granville Controls and Yorkshire Heating Supplies. [4]

Wolseley continued to expand buying both manufacturing and distribution businesses. In 1982, it entered the market in the United States by acquiring Ferguson Enterprises, a distributor of plumbing supplies, with around 50 branches on the East Coast of the United States. [4] In 1984, some of the manufacturing businesses were sold off, and since that time Wolseley has been mainly a distribution business. [4] The trading name of Plumb Center was acquired in the 1980s, and extended to include Build Center, Drain Center, and Hire Center.

The company's headquarters used to be in Ripon, Yorkshire, where it was the city's largest employer. In July 2004, the company announced that its head office was to be relocated to Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. A regional office, including the central human resources and information technology functions, remains in Ripon.

The company acquired several other companies, such as Broughton Crangrove, ENCON, and the highly successful Bathstore business, which was acquired by Wolseley Plc in June 2003, plus significant operations in France, Austria and Italy. In 2004, the company undertook a rebranding exercise, and its main outlets were known as Plumb Center, Build Center (acquired by Jewsons in July 2011), Pipe Center, Parts Center, Drain Center, Climate Center and Integrated Supply Chain (formerly Maintenance Center).

In 2010 Wolseley ended its participation in the hire industry, selling Brandon Hire for a £42m Loss. [5] On July 13, 2011, it was announced that Wolseley was to sell off its Electric Center arm to rivals Edmundson Electrical. [6]

With parent company Ferguson plc's ownership of similar operations in North America, Wolseley UK was part of one of the largest network of builders merchants in the world. This gave it advantages over competitors in terms of pricing and stock. Wolseley UK is no longer involved in manufacturing; instead, it focuses on distributing and selling bought in products.

In January 2021, Wolseley UK was sold by Ferguson to a private equity firm, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, for £308m. [7] In July 2021, Wolseley UK bought selected Graham Plumbers' Merchant stores after Saint-Gobain divested the business. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Motor Corporation</span> Automobile manufacturer

The British Motor Corporation Limited (BMC) was a UK-based vehicle manufacturer, formed in early 1952 to give effect to an agreed merger of the Morris and Austin businesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Leyland</span> 1968–1986 automotive manufacturing conglomerate

British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partly nationalised in 1975, when the UK government created a holding company called British Leyland, later renamed BL in 1978. It incorporated much of the British-owned motor vehicle industry, which in 1968 had a 40% share of the UK car market, with its history going back to 1895. Despite containing profitable marques such as Jaguar, Rover, and Land Rover, as well as the best-selling Mini, BLMC had a troubled history, leading to its eventual collapse in 1975 and subsequent part-nationalisation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Gobain</span> French glass and construction material manufacturer

Compagnie de Saint-Gobain S.A. is a French multinational corporation, founded in 1665 in Paris and headquartered on the outskirts of Paris, at La Défense and in Courbevoie. Originally a mirror manufacturer, it also produces a variety of construction, high-performance, and other materials. Saint-Gobain is present in 76 countries and as of 2022 employs more than 170,000 people.

Ferguson plc is a British multinational plumbing and heating products distributor with its head office in Wokingham, England. Its brands include Ferguson Enterprises.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thorn EMI</span> British company, 1979–1996

Thorn EMI was a major British company involved in consumer electronics, music, defence and retail. Created in October 1979, when Thorn Electrical Industries merged with EMI, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It demerged back to separate companies in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolseley Motors</span> British motor car company 1901 - 1975

Wolseley Motors Limited was a British motor vehicle manufacturer founded in early 1901 by the Vickers Armaments in conjunction with Herbert Austin. It initially made a full range, topped by large luxury cars, and dominated the market in the Edwardian era. The Vickers brothers died and, without their guidance, Wolseley expanded rapidly after the war, manufacturing 12,000 cars in 1921, and remained the biggest motor manufacturer in Britain.

Telecity Group plc, was a European carrier-neutral datacentre and colocation centre provider. It specialised in the design, build and management of datacentre space. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Equinix in January 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Travis Perkins</span> British builders merchant and home improvement retailer

Travis Perkins plc is a British builders' merchant and home improvement retailer with head offices based in Northampton. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AGA Rangemaster Group</span> British manufacturer

AGA Rangemaster Group Limited is a British manufacturer of range cookers, kitchen appliances, and interior furnishings, which was acquired by the American Company, Middleby Corporation in September 2015 after it received a takeover approach from Whirlpool. The Group employs just over 2,500 people worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clayton, Dubilier & Rice</span> American private equity company

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) is an American private equity company. It is one of the oldest private equity investment firms in the world. Founded in 1978, CD&R has managed the investment of more than $30 billion in approximately 90 businesses, representing a broad range of industries with an aggregate transaction value in excess of $140 billion. Approximately half of CD&R's investments have involved corporate divestitures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Npower (United Kingdom)</span> UK-based electricity generator and supplier of gas and electricity

Npower Limited is a British supplier of gas and electricity to businesses. It has been a subsidiary of E.ON UK since January 2019. The company was formerly known as Innogy plc and was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferguson Enterprises</span> American plumbing and heating company

Ferguson, LLC, headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, United States, is the largest U.S. distributor of plumbing supplies, PVF, waterworks and fire and fabrication products. It is also a major distributor of HVAC equipment and industrial products and services. It ended the 2019 fiscal year with sales of $18.4 billion. This is an increase of 12.2 percent from the previous fiscal year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Novar plc</span>

Novar plc was an international building supplies group based in the United Kingdom. Novar was formed in 1921 as Metal Box Company from the coming together of several businesses and trades, including canning and printing. By the 1970s, it was a market leader in these fields. In the 1980s the company diversified into building supplies and at its peak consisted of 30 companies supplying products to the construction and DIY industries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EnServe</span> British utility infrastructure services company

EnServe Group Limited is a support services company headquartered in Macclesfield, United Kingdom which provides infrastructure services to the utility sector. Formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index, it was wholly owned by the private equity company Cinven between 2010 and 2016, when it was bought by Rubicon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Wolseley</span>

Frederick York Wolseley was an Irish-born New South Wales inventor and woolgrower who invented and developed the first commercially successful sheep shearing machinery after extensive experimentation. It revolutionised the wool industry.

Genuit Group plc, formerly Polypipe Group, is a manufacturer of plastic piping systems, for use in the residential, commercial, civils and infrastructure sectors. The piping systems are used for a variety of applications including drainage, plumbing, water supply, water management, cable management, heating and ventilation. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Build.com</span> Online retailer and subsidiary of Ferguson plc

Build.com is an online home improvement retailer, and subsidiary of Ferguson plc. It sells bathroom, kitchen and lighting hardware, appliances and other supplies. The company is headquartered in Chico, California, United States.

The Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machine Company Limited was a London-incorporated public listed company created to capitalize on a sheep-shearing machinery business established by Frederick Wolseley in Australia which was managed by Herbert Austin who went on to manufacture Wolseley and Austin cars.

HP Products, a Ferguson enterprise, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is a distributor of health and hygiene, packaging, safety, laundry and dietary, lighting, equipment, food service, coffee and beverage, and textile products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmundson Electrical</span> Electrical distribution company based in Knutsford, Cheshire

Edmundson Electrical Ltd is a privately held electrical distribution company headquartered in Knutsford, Cheshire, incorporated in 1991. It is the largest electrical distributor in the United Kingdom and serves both to the trade and to the public from over 300 locations. The company also serves Ireland through a subsidiary, EWL Electric Ltd, as well as through mainland Europe via its sister company, Vink Holdings.

References

  1. ↑ "Wolseley Careers". phpstack-335447-1185776.cloudwaysapps.com. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  2. ↑ Our History Wolseley. Retrieved 28 February 2022
  3. 1 2 Roy Church, 'Austin, Herbert, Baron Austin (1866–1941)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Company history". Wolseley plc. Archived from the original on 16 December 2009. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  5. ↑ Wolseley sells Brandon Hire tool business
  6. ↑ "Wolseley sells Electric Center to Edmundson". The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on 20 June 2023.
  7. ↑ "New owners for Wolseley UK". The Construction Index. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  8. ↑ "Saint-Gobain divests Graham, its plumbing, heating and sanitary products specialist distribution business in the United Kingdom" (PDF). Saint-Gobain. 12 July 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.