BUILDERS MERCHANTS: A-Z HUWS GRAY • JAMES HARGREAVES Huws Gray
HUWS GRAY THE NUMBERS
2021 Turnover £m Gross profit £m
Operating profit £k Net profit £k Staff
THE RATIOS 2021 Stockturn Gross margin %
Operating margin % Net margin % Sales/head £k Profit/head £
Return on capital % BMJ INDEX
1.4
38.0 12.6 11.8 278
35,081 26.0
2022 4.9
29.1 5.2 4.5
290
14,972 24.7
2023 5.2
28.1 1.4 0.6
275
3,827 2.7 (97)
Founded in 1990 from a single branch in Anglesey, the Huws Gray Group has rapidly expanded over the past 30 years through organic growth and acquisitions. It has doubled in size every five years, with the last two major acquisitions being those of the East Anglian independent business Ridgeons, and of the Grafton GB Merchanting bsinesses. The Huws Gray Group
operates at over 300 trading and distribution locations and employs
493.9 187.9
62,304 58,391 1,776
2022
1,619.7 471.2
83,499 72,561 5,577
2023
1,402.4 394.1
19,483 8,209 5,091
HUWS GRAY % CHANGE
21/22 228 151 34 24
214
21/22 247 (24) (59) (62) 4
(57) (5)
22/23 (13) (16) (77) (89) (9)
% CHANGE
22/23 7
(3)
(73) (87) (5)
(74) (89)
Llangefni Ind. Est. Llangefni Anglesey LL77 7JA Tel: 01248 724 750
www.huwsgray.co.uk
Brands:
@Home Kitchens & Bathrooms Civils & Lintels, Electricbase, Hirebase Huws Gray Supply Chain Solutions Lloyd Worrall, NDI, PDM, The Timber Group, Timber Engineering, Tool Centre
Branches: 242
Civils & Lintels: 18, Electricbase: 22 Hirebase: 84, PDM: 9, The Timber Group: 5, Tool Centre: 5 Showrooms: 79
Employees 4500
c.5,000 colleagues. The Group is a premium merchant and distributor of a broad range of building materials and products, including being a leading timber merchant and importer to corporate, trade and retail customers and has been backed by private equity firm Blackstone since 2021. In March 2025, the company announced that it was reloacting its site on Valley Road in Bradford, which it acquired with the purchase of Uriah Woodhead and
James Hargreaves (Plumbers Merchants) Ltd
JAMES HARGREAVES THE NUMBERS
2021 Turnover £m Gross profit £m
Operating profit £k Net profit £k Staff
THE RATIOS 2021 Stockturn Gross margin %
Operating margin % Net margin %
Sales/employee £k Profit/employee £ Return on capital % BMJ INDEX
5.0
28.8 9.0 9.0
327
29,360 21.8
2022 4.7
30.3 10.5 10.5 341
35,624 32.5
2023 5.0
28.1 9.0 9.1
355
31,858 26.4 366
James Hargreaves opened its third Sustainable Home Centre in collaboration with Daikin, the heat pump manufacturer, in January 2025, at the James Hargreaves Huyton Plumbing Supplies branch. It follows on
22
112.3 32.3
10,100 10,054 344
2022
122.4 37.0
12,789 12,819 359
2023
132.4 37.2
11,883 12,083 373
JAMES HARGREAVES % CHANGE
21/22 9
15 27 28 4
21/22 (6) 5
16 17 4
21 49
22/23 8 1
(7) (6) 4
% CHANGE
22/23 6
(7)
(14) (13) 4
(11) (19)
Todmorden Road, Burnley, BB11 3JT Tel: 01282722000
www.jameshargreaves.com
Branches: 73 Showrooms: 53
Branches Added/Closed in 2024: 1 added, Swinton
Employees: 386
Chairman: Gordon Rothwell Managing Director: Carl Bridge Other Directors: Gary Beaumont, Martin Healy, Chander Sharma, Simon Jackson, David Eddison, Jack Rothwell, Bill Davies
Approximate turnover for 2024 £131.18 million
Buying Group: PHG, NMBS BMF Member
from the November opening of a similar Centre in Swinton, Manchester.
The Huyton Sustainable Home Centre was opened by Local MP Anneliese Midgley. It will offer installers and homeowners the
chance to learn about the latest advancements in sustainable home heating technologies, with a particular focus on renewable energy options. The centre also aims to train a significant number of clean energy installers each
month within the local Merseyside area
James Hargreves sales director Gary Beaumont said: “We strongly believe in investing in the future, and we see the transition to net zero as an exciting opportunity. This Centre provides a platform to develop opportunities for renewable technologies, and we look forward to welcoming installers, equipping them with the expertise needed to drive our industry towards a greener future.”
A supplement to builders merchants journal April 2025
Son, to its other Bradford site on Parkside Road.
The company has also launched its first Sustainability Report, to be repeated annually, which looks at its achievements in economic, environmental, social and governance areas, and sets out a new set of targets for the group.
Chairman: Terry Owen CEO: Daksh Gupta CCO: Adrian Wallington CFO: Jon White Group Procurement Director Simon Boulby Commercial Operations Director Huws Gray: Sophie Mellor Managing Director Civils & Lintels: Allan Wright Managing Director Bathroom Distribution Group: Darren Allison Managing Director Huws Gray Supply Chain Solutions: Lyndon Johnson Director: Dewi Morris Director:Andrew Wagstaff Head of Central Operations: Dafydd Hughes
Head of Marketing: Sophie Brown BMF Member
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