BUILDERS MERCHANTS: A-Z GRAFTON • HOWARTH TIMBER & BUILDING SUPPLIES Grafton
GRAFTON (FIGURES FOR SELCO) THE NUMBERS
2022 Turnover £m Gross profit £m
Operating profit £k Net profit £k Staff
THE RATIOS 2022 Stockturn Gross margin %
Operating margin % Net margin % Sales/head £k Profit/head £
Return on capital % BMJ INDEX
4.0
38.9 2.4 7.0
202
16,281 43.8
2023 4.1
36.7 1.1 2.5
204
7,636 13.9 (19)
Dublin-headquartered Grafton Group’s UK Distribution business comprises Selco Builders Warehouse, London-based decorators’ merchant Leyland SDM, TG Lynes, the heating, plumbing and air movement specialist merchant, and MacBlair, the builders merchant chain in Northern Ireland.
Selco, which currently trades from 74 branches, 32 of them in London saw sales fall due to
2024 4.4
35.9 0.4 0.4
207
3,106 1.8 (7)
615.0 239.0
49,478 43,085 3,039
2023
590.8 216.6
22,115 15,048 2,896
2024
566.6 203.6 8,516 2,014 2,742
% CHANGE
22/23 (4) (9)
(55) (65) (5)
% CHANGE
22/23 2
(4)
(55) (64) 1
(53) (68)
23/24 2
(2)
(62) (84) 1
(59) (87)
23/24 (4) (9)
(55) (65) (5)
TG Lynes is based in Enfield, and is a heating, plumbing and air movement materials distributor to the commercial sector, operating from a 60,000 sq ft warehouse facility, including a 2,000 sq ft trade counter.
MacBlair currently operates 19 branches across the province of Northern Ireland, including six luxury bathroom showrooms, branded Watershed.
GRAFTON
Heron House, Corrig Road Sandyford Business Park, Dublin 18 D18 Y2X6 Tel: +353 (0) 1 216 0600
www.graftonplc.com
Subsidiaries (UK distribution): Leyland SDM, McBlair, Selco, TG Lynes, Watershed
Branches: Selco: 74
Leyland SDM: 36 TG Lynes: 1 MacBlair: 19 Watershed Showrooms: 6 Employees: c 3800
CEO: Eric Born CFO: David Arnold
CEO Selco and GB Distribution: Frank Elkins
lower demand with customers taking on smaller jobs in the weaker wider market.
Leyland SDM has 36 stores in the Greater London area, the latest of which was opened on Tower Bridge Road, London in December 2025 and it successfully implemented a new ERP in the second half of the year positioning the business to accelerate its investment in its digital offering for customers.
Howarth Timber & Building Supplies
HOWARTH TIMBER & BUILDING SUPPLIES THE NUMBERS
22/23 Turnover £m Gross profit £m
Operating profit £k Net profit £k Staff
THE RATIOS 22/23 Stockturn Gross margin %
Operating margin % Net margin %
Sales/employee £k Profit/employee £ Return on capital % BMJ INDEX
3.9
30.4 3.5 3.4
245
8,529 19.1
23/24 3.9
31.4 0.7 0.7
230
1,661 3.7
24/25 3.8
30.8 -0.8 -1.2 233
(1,894) -8.1 (8)
143.6 43.7
4,998 4,894 586
23/24
138.7 43.6 1,003 946 604
24/25
142.4 43.8
(1,159) (1,734) 612
% CHANGE
23/24 (3) (0)
(80) (81) 3
% CHANGE
23/24 1
3
(79) (80) (6)
(81) (81)
24/25 (3) (2)
(213) (279) 1
(214) (323)
24/25 3 1
(216) (283) 1
HOWARTH TIMBER & BUILDING SUPPLIES
Prince Edward Works Pontefract Lane Leeds
LS9 0RA Tel: 01135327032
www.howarth-timber.co.uk
Branches: 37 Showrooms: 19
Branches Added/Closed in 2025: +1 Employees: 565
Chairman: Andrew Howarth Managing Director: Nicholas Howarth
Approximate turnover for 2025: £148m
Buying Group: Fortis BMF Member: Yes Fianancial year end: March 31 2025
The UK’s largest privately owned timber company, family-run Howarth Timber Group has 37 timber and builder’s merchant branches geographically spread across the country, with dedicated manufacturing divisions supplying windows and doors and highly specialist timber engeneering roducts and services.
It is part of the Howarth Timber Group which also includes: Howarth Timber, (Windows and Doors) Ltd, Howarth Timber Engineered Solutions Ltd, and Arbour Forest Products Ltd. Howarth Timber & Building Supplies is also behind the award-winning podcast, the 1840 Podcast, which, now in its second season, has covered topics from general merchanting product-related issues to the history of the company, bringing in a younger generation, women in merchanting, and supplier- merchant relationships.
20 A supplement to builders merchants journal April 2026
CEO Leyland SDM Martin Hastings TG Lynes managing director: Richard Perkins
MacBlair managing director: Alan Wright
BMF Member Yes Financial year end: December 31 2024
TRAILBLAZERS
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