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

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

, and is a constituent of the

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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 investm ...

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 including the Selco chain. In February 2003, it bought Jackson Building Centres, another British builders merchants, based in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

. 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 a suburb in the London Borough of Hillingdon in northwest London. Prior to 1965 it was in 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 for £520m. Businesses sold include Buildbase, Civils & Lintels, PDM Buildbase, The Timber Group, Bathroom Distribution Group, Frontline and NDI Brands.

Operations

The company currently owns four physical "bricks and mortar" businesses, Woodie's DIY, 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 Companies in the FTSE 250 Index