TRAILBLAZERS John Nicholls
JOHN NICHOLLS THE NUMBERS
21/22 Turnover £m Gross profit £m
Operating profit £k Net profit £k Employees
THE RATIOS 21/22 Stockturn Gross margin %
Operating margin % Net margin %
Sales/employee £k Profit/employee £ Return on capital % BMJ INDEX
5.6
28.1 5.7 5.6
305
17,240 27.2
22/23 5.3
28.5 4.4 4.2
303
13,229 30.5
23/24 6.1
28.0 2.4 2.1
297
7,214 12.0 (604)
In 2023, family run building and plumbers merchant John Nicholls went through a management buy- out, having sold the business to MKM Building Supplies. The company then re-invented itself as a plumbing and heating merchant, focussing on its growing bathroom showroom business, and its south coast
Joseph Parr
JOSEPH PARR 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
6.6
30.5 8.2 8.3
293
24,038 20.4
2022 6.8
27.3 7.5 7.4
306
22,907 15.3
2023 8.4
25.7 4.8 5.5
300
14,372 10.3 11
Established in 1883. Joseph Parr Group is one of the UK’s wholly independent merchant chains with twelve locations from Edinburgh to Telford. It is made up of separate builders merchants, serving local trades and the public for over 120 years. The companies are: Joseph Parr Limited (Bootle, Port Sunlight), Joseph Parr (Alco)
84.3 25.7
6,923 6,959 288
2022
89.2 24.3
6,666 6,613 291
2023
89.4 23.0
4,283 4,885 298
JOSEPH PARR % CHANGE
2022 6
(5) (4) (5) 1
% CHANGE
2022 3
(11) (9)
(10) 5
(5) (25)
2023 23 (6)
(36) (26) (2)
(37) (33)
2023 0
(5)
(36) (26) 2
Dunnings Bridge Road, Bootle, L30 6UU Tel: 01515234343
josephparr.co.uk
Branches: 13 Employees: 296
Chairman: Christine Jones Managing Director: Christine Jones Other Directors: Michael Beaumont, Garry Bluer, James Hipkins, Liam Lee, Ross Murray, Marc Poppleton, Keith Slater, Marcus Williams
Buying Group: H&B NMBS BMF Member
67.4 18.9
3,810 3,805 221
22/23
70.0 20.0
3,056 2,971 231
23/24
41.5 11.6
1,010 890 140
% CHANGE
22/23 4 6
(20) (22) 5
22/23 (6) 1
(23) (25) (1)
(23) 12
23/24 (41) (42) (67) (70) (39)
% CHANGE
23/24 15 (2)
(44) (49) (2)
(45) (61)
based merchant operation J&Bs. The John Nicholls locations are: Banbury Plumbing & Heating with Bathroom Solutions Showroom, Buckingham Plumbing & Heating, Kidlington Plumbing & Heating with Bathroom Solutions Showroom, Shipston Plumbing & Heating with Bathroom Solutions Showroom, Towcester Plumbing
& Heating, Witney Plumbing & Heating with Bathroom Solutions Showroom, John Nicholls Luxury Kitchen & Bathroom Showroom. J&Bs, a three-branch operation when Nicholls acquired them, is very much part of the plans for moving forward. The J&Bs arm now has branches in Blandford, Branksome, Moordown, New Milton, Ringwood, Weymouth, Wimborne Upton and Christchurch.
Among the initiatves since the MBO are a new ERP system with software supplier Intact, moving the head office, and refurbishing the Branksome, Wimbourne, and Shipston-on-Stour branches. The company celebrated
JOHN NICHOLLS • JOSEPH PARR BUILDERS MERCHANTS: A-Z
JOHN NICHOLLS
11-12 Sommerville Court Adderbury Oxfordshire OX17 3SN Tel: 01295222333
www.johnnichollstrade.co.uk
Branches: 16 Subsidiaries: J&Bs Showrooms: 1 (Stand alone K&B) 10 (integral B)
Employees: 123
Chairman: Andrew Nicholls Managing Director: Adam England Other Directors: Mark Walton, Sam Hall, David Simms
Approximate turnover for 2024: Y/E 31/03/24 £41.5m, Y/E 31/03/2025 £39.6m (Est)
Buying Group: Fortis, NMBS BMF Member Yr end: 31/03/24
its 60th annniversary early in 2025, with a party at Newbury Racecourse, bringing together everyone from the John Nicholls branches and the J&B’s branches, something managing director Adam England says it had never had the chance to do before.
Ltd (Oldham, Bradford), Joseph Parr Middlesbrough Ltd (Middlesborough, Stockton & Tyne & Wear), Parr Rochdale Ltd, (Rochdale) Emerys Builders Merchants (Telford, Stoke), The Builders Supply Company Ltd (Bothwell & Edinburgh) Joseph Parr (Northants) Ltd (Kettering). In June 2024, Joseph Parr (Alco) Ltd took delivery of a Volvo FM
April 2025 A supplement to builders merchants journal
Electric 6x2 rigid, believed to be the first zero-tailpipe heavy-duty truck working for a builders’ merchant in the UK. Michael Beaumont, joint managing director at Joseph Parr (Alco), says: “Regulations across the industry are changing and we want to ensure we are ahead of the curve in terms of new green technologies”.
25
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