Grafton Group plc is a builders merchants business based in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is listed on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

, and is a constituent of the

FTSE 250 Index The FTSE 250 Index ( "Footsie") is a capitalisation-weighted index consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. Promotions and demotions to and from the index occur quarterly in March, June, Septemb ...

History

The company was established by William Chadwick as Chadwicks (Dublin) Ltd in 1902. It subsequently became Concrete Products of Ireland.Beating the Budget blues
The Independent, 10 December 2011 It was the subject of an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

in 1965 and building materials company Marley subsequently took a 51% stake. Michael Chadwick bought out Marley and renamed the business Grafton Group in 1987. In March 1998, it bought British Dredging, a United Kingdom builders merchants. In February 2003, it bought Jackson Building Centres, another British builders merchants, based in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

. In October 2003, it also bought Plumbline, Scotland's largest independent plumbers merchants. In June 2004, it bought Heiton Group, Ireland’s largest independent plumbers merchants. In December 2006, it then bought Plumbworld, one of the United Kingdom’s largest online bathroom retailers. In August 2013, it bought Wearside builders' merchant Thompsons, in October 2013, it bought Binje Ackermans, a Brussels based merchanting operation, 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. Then in September 2014, it bought Direct Builders Merchants, a general merchanting business based in Kent and in December 2014, it bought Crescent Building Supplies, a builders' merchant based in

Ruislip Ruislip ( ) is an area in the London Borough of Hillingdon in West London, and in the historic county of Middlesex. Ruislip lies west-north-west of Charing Cross, London. The manor of Ruislip appears in the Domesday Book, and some of the ear ...

. In March 2015, it bought TG Lynes, a distributor of mechanical engineering products, in January 2016, it bought T Brewer, a timber distributor based in London, and in March 2016, it bought Allsand Supplies, a general builders' merchant located in Kent. In January 2022 the company announced the completion of the sale of its merchanting business in the UK to

Huws Gray Huws Gray is a British builders merchants chain based in the town of Llangefni, Anglesey, Wales. Huws Gray has over 100 branches located across Wales, England and Scotland and most recently with the acquisition of the Buildbase, PDM Scotland an ...

for £520m. Businesses sold include

Buildbase Buildbase is a builders’ merchants in the United Kingdom, and is approaching two hundred branches nationwide. Buildbase is part of Huws Gray having been bought from Grafton Group plc in a deal that saw Grafton sell its merchanting business in ...

, Civils & Lintels, PDM Buildbase, The Timber Group, Bathroom Distribution Group, Frontline and NDI Brands.

Operations

The company owns the

Woodie's DIY Woodie's is an Irish DIY and home improvement retailing company. Founded in 1987 in Walkinstown, Dublin and opening the first store in the same year, it is a part of Grafton Group plc. Woodie's is a nationwide company, having over thirty ...

, Civils and Lintels, Selco and Jacksons brands. It also has a number of businesses that trade exclusively online.Grafton Merchanting buys online merchant
Builder's Merchant News, 30 June 2010

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Companies formerly listed on Euronext Dublin Business services companies established in 1902 Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange 1902 establishments in Ireland