Wolseley (builders' Merchant)
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Ferguson plc (formerly Wolseley plc) was an American-British multinational plumbing and heating products distributor. In August 2024, it merged into Ferguson Enterprises. The company traced its roots to The Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machine Company, founded in 1887. Wolseley plc changed its name to Ferguson plc in March 2017, to reflect the primacy of its operations in the United States. The company continued to trade as Wolseley in the United Kingdom and Canada until 2021 when Wolseley UK was sold to a private equity firm.


History


Wolseley

The Wolseley business began in 1887 as The Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machine Company. Herbert Austin, who had worked on Wolseley's shearing machinery development in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
, Australia from 1887, when he was aged just 20, was appointed its manager and received a share of its equity. 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.Roy Church, 'Austin, Herbert, Baron Austin (1866–1941)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'',
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 2004
The post-war rise of synthetic textiles sharply reduced the demand for
wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...
and the necessary machinery, and in 1960, Wolseley diversified activities, by buying Nu Way Heating. Nu Way Burners was founded in 1932 in Vines Lane, Droitwich Spa, Oil Burner Components 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. In 1965, Wolseley purchased Granville Controls and Yorkshire Heating Supplies. 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 fifty branches on the East Coast of the United States, for $30.7 million. In 1984, some of the manufacturing businesses were sold, and since that time Wolseley has been mainly a distribution business. Wolseley expanded to Europe by buying French plumbing supplies business Brossette in February 1992. In April 2000, Wolseley sold most of its remaining manufacturing businesses to
Cinven Cinven Limited is a global private equity firm founded in 1977, with offices in nine international locations in Guernsey, London, New York, Paris, Frankfurt, Milan, Luxembourg, Madrid, and Hong Kong that acquires Europe and United States–bas ...
for £215 million. In 2008, during the
Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.
, the company announced 6,000 layoffs. In July 2011, Saint-Gobain acquired Build Center for £145 million and Brossete for €186-million. Wolseley sold ISB (Importation et Solution Bois) Group to its management in April 2015. Wolseley sold Bois & Matériaux to
OpenGate Capital Andrew Nikou is a Canadian businessman who is the founder and CEO of OpenGate Capital, a global private buyout firm. The firm is focused on acquiring lower to middle market businesses that are often privately owned, or non-core divisions of larg ...
in November 2015. Following a 2016 restructuring of the UK business (based in
Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...
in
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...
), most of the trading brands were renamed, and brought under the single brand of ''Wolseley''. In Scotland, it was a supplier of plumbing, heating and bathroom products, branded William Wilson.


Ferguson plc

Wolseley rebranded as Ferguson effective 31 July 2017, because almost all of its business was in the
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, by its Ferguson Enterprises brand. It continued to use the name Wolseley in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, for its brand recognition. In 2017, Ferguson sold its Scandinavian businesses for €1 billion. In 2018, Wolseley UK exited its wholesale business, closed nearly 100 branches and cut about 800 jobs, leaving it with 642 branches. Ferguson also made about $650 million of acquisitions. In January 2021, the company sold Wolseley UK to Clayton, Dubilier & Rice for £308 million. In August 2024, the company merged into Ferguson Enterprises.


References


External links

* {{Construction industry in the United Kingdom 2024 mergers and acquisitions Business services companies established in 1887 Building materials companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Berkshire Wholesalers of the United Kingdom