Robert Dyas is a UK hardware retailer founded in London in 1872. It sells a range of housewares, small electrical appliances, gardening products, kitchenwares, DIY, and consumer electronics throughout 93 shops, mainly in Greater London and

South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Berkshi ...

, as well as online. Since 2012 Robert Dyas has been owned by

Theo Paphitis Theodoros "Theo" Paphitis ( el, Θεόδωρος Παφίτης; born 24 September 1959) is a Greek-Cypriot British retail magnate and entrepreneur. He is best known for his appearances on the BBC business programme ''Dragons' Den'' and as former ...

, the entrepreneur and long-time star of BBC's ''

Dragons' Den ''Dragons' Den'' is a reality television program format in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment finance from them. The program originated in 2001 in Japan, where it is k ...

''.

History

Robert Dyas emigrated to England from County Meath, Ireland, and with an inheritance of just £5 he opened his first shop in the capital in 1872. By the time of his death at the age of 66 he had established 18 shops. His sons took over after that, followed by his two grandsons who died in 1961 and 2002. Robert Dyas has survived several catastrophes including the Great Depression and the

Blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...

in which the head office, warehouse and 18 shops were destroyed. In 1997, Robert Dyas's head office and warehouse burnt down in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

; the head office is now in Wimbledon,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, after a time in

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leathe ...

, Surrey. In March 2004, Robert Dyas was bought by Change Capital Partners, a

private equity firm A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including lev ...

headed by former

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

chairman Luc Vandevelde. By spring 2009, the company had come close to collapse with rumoured debts of £30 million.BBC News: Management to buy out Robert Dyas
/ref> Change Capital Partners had lost control of the company to

Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Banking Group is a British financial institution formed through the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB in 2009. It is one of the UK's largest financial services organisations, with 30 million customers and 65,000 employees. Lloyds Ban ...

and Allied Irish Banking Group who owned the debt. Following a management buy-out, backed by the

on 8 April steps were taken by September of that year to secure its viability through a debt-for-equity deal that gave its lenders a majority stake in the chain. In 2010–2011, Robert Dyas introduced a new trading format, increased its online offering and expanded the use of web kiosks and browsers. The company was put up for sale in November 2011 by the Lloyds Banking Group and Allied Irish Banking Group. Following a sale process led by Cavendish Corporate Finance, the company was successfully sold in July 2012 to

Shops and products

Robert Dyas currently operates 93 standalone shops (down from 97 in April 2014). Shops vary in size from a large right down to . Shop count has also decreased at Ryman Limited, likewise owned by Theo Paphitis, with shops closed at lease expiry. This has led to a decreased turnover by 2.5%. Shops are mainly found in London and the south east of England, but also exist as far away as

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

in the West and

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blyth ...

and Kenilworth in the West Midlands. In 2013 a rolling program of introducing electronic displays into shops was started. Now 20 shops have both electronic screens in shops, showing infomercials, plus screens in front windows showing electronic posters. Shop teams in some locations also use portable tablets to help customer purchasing decisions and improve their overall shopping experience. The product range is primarily focused on housewares, 'end of line' products as special offers and light

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...

. Core departments include kitchenware, vacuums and kitchen appliances, steam cleaning, cleaning chemicals and laundry products, garden care, outdoor leisure, DIY tools and materials, home office and technology. The business has also expanded into seasonal gifting ranges at key times of the year.

Advertising

In December 2015, the company gained attention for its Christmas advert, in which staff and customers announce their sexual orientation while demonstrating products.

References

External links

Official website

''Times'' interview with Steven Round
20 April 2007
BBC: Theo Paphitis Buys Robert Dyas
10 July 2012
Retail Week report; "Robert Dyas profits surge under Theo Paphitis"
31 July 2013 {{commonscat, Robert Dyas Home improvement companies of the United Kingdom Retail companies established in 1872