TRAILBLAZERS John A. Stephens
JOHN
A.STEPHENS 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
John Nicholls
JOHN NICHOLLS THE NUMBERS
22/23 Turnover £m Gross profit £m
Operating profit £k Net profit £k Employees
THE RATIOS 22/23 Stockturn Gross margin %
Operating margin % Net margin %
Sales/employee £k Profit/employee £ Return on capital % BMJ INDEX
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
24/25 5.3
27.2 2.2 2.0
307
6,720 10.7 (89)
70.0 20.0
3,056 2,971 231
23/24
41.5 11.6
1,010 890 140
24/25
38.3 10.4 840 782 125
JOHN NICHOLLS % CHANGE
23/24 (41) (42) (67) (70) (39)
23/24 15
(2)
(44) (49) (2)
(45) (61)
24/25 (8)
(10) (17) (12) (11)
% CHANGE
24/25 (13) (3)
(10) (5) 3
(7) (11)
Unit 1 Somerville Court, Adderbury, Banbury, Oxon, OX17 3SN Tel:01295262294
www.johnnichollstrade.co.uk
Branches: 16 Showrooms: 12
Branches Added/Closed in 2025: 1 Added Aylesbury Employees: 125
Chairman: Andrew Nicholls Managing Director: Adam England Commercial Director: Sam Hall Operations Director: Dave Simms Finance Director: Mark Walton
Approximate turnover for 2025: £40m
Buying Group: PHG BMF Member: Yes Financial year end: March 31 2025
Joseph Parr
JOSEPH PARR 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
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
2024 9.2
25.1 -0.0 0.8 297 nil 1.5 (0)
89.2 24.3
6,666 6,613 291
2023
89.4 23.0
4,283 4,885 298
2024
91.9 23.1 (17) 708 309
JOSEPH PARR % CHANGE
2023 0
(5)
(36) (26) 2
% CHANGE
2023 23 (6)
(36) (26) (2)
(37) (33)
2024 10
(2)
(100) (86) (1)
(100) (86)
2024 3 0
n/a (86) 4
Dunnings Bridge Road, Bootle, L30 6UU Tel: 01515234343
www.josephparr.co.uk
Branches: 13 Employees: 296
Chairman: Christine Jones Managing Director: Christine Jones Directors: Michael Beaumont, Garry Bluer, James Hipkins, Liam Lee, Ross Murray, Marc Poppleton, Keith Slater, Marcus Williams
Buying Group: H&B BMF Member: Yes
Financial year end: December 31 2024
Established in 1883, Joseph Parr Group is one of the UK’s wholly independant merchant chains, with 12 locations from Edinburgh to Telford. It is made up of multiple builders merchants, including: Joseph Parr Limited (Bootle, Port Sunlight) Joseph Parr (Alco) Ltd (Oldham, Bradford), Joseph Parr Middlesbrough Ltd, (Middlesbrough, Stockton and Tyne & Wear), Parr Rochdale Ltd, (Rochdale), Emerys Builders Merchants (Telford, Stoke), The Building Supply Company Ltd (Bothwell & Edinburgh) and Joseph Parr (Northants) Ltd (Kettering).
April 2026 A supplement to builders merchants journal 23
In 2023, family run building and plumbers merchant John Nicholls went through a management buy- out, having sold the buisness to MKM Building Supplies. The company then re-invented itself as a plumbing and heating merchant, focussing on its growing bathroom business, and its south coast based merchant operation J&Bs. This now has branches in Blandford, Branksome, Moordown, New Milton, Ringwood,Weymouth, Wimbourne, Upton and Christchurch. In 2025, it opened a new John Nicholls branch in Aylesbury.
6.5
30.5 0.4 0.7
255 991 1.2
2023 6.1
30.3 nil nil
232 nil nil
2024 6.9
28.8 nil nil
230 nil nil
(28)
27.8 8.5 108 203 109
2023
24.3 7.4
(499) (254) 105
2024
24.1 6.9
(1,121) (905) 105
JOHN A. STEPHENS % CHANGE
2023 (13) (13) n/a n/a (4)
% CHANGE
2023 (6) (1)
n/a n/a (9)
n/a n/a
2024 13
(5)
n/a n/a (1)
n/a n/a
2024 (1)
(6)
n/a n/a 0
Castle Meadow Road Nottingham, NG2 1AG Tel: 01159412861
www.johnastephens.co.uk
Branches: 2 Employees: 93
Chairman: Peter Stephens Managing Director: Peter Stephens Directors: Jon Taylor. Stephen Long. Dean Monks. Philip Long
Buying Group: Fortis BMF Member: Yes
Financial year end: December 31 2024
John A Stephens was founded in 1967, and occupies a seven-acre site in the heart of Nottingham. The company’s second branch is located just south of the River Trent, in West Bridgeford. James A Stephens aims to become one of the largest stocked and most efficient builder’s merchants in the East Midlands. It supplies and and services both trade and DIY sectors with all manner of building materials, so whether the project is large or small.
At the begining of 2025, the company joined the Fortis buying group.
JOHN A. STEPHENS • JOHN NICHOLLS • JOSEPH PARR BUILDERS MERCHANTS: A-Z
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