BUILDERS MERCHANTS: A-Z Stark Building Materials UK
STARK 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
6.4
15.4 1.3 2.7
269
3,393 35.6
2023
3.9 8.3
-9.4 -11.6 n/a nil
-513.4 23/24
5.9 11.0
-3.0 -6.0 270 nil
-78.0 n/a
2,376.4 365.4
29,965 63,822 8,831
2023
1,321.3 110.2
(123,728) (153,396) 8,422
23/24
2,068.6 227.9
(61,689) (123,257) 7,671
STARK % CHANGE
2023 n/a n/a n/a n/a (5)
2023 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
23/24 n/a n/a n/a n/a (9)
% CHANGE
23/24 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
NB: 2023 figures for seven months due to shortened accounting period. This means some of the formulae calculations don’t work.
Three years on from acquiring the former Saint-Gobain Building Distribution businesses, John Carter reflects on “a period defined by reinvestment and rebuilding.” The strategy has been deliberate and visible, most notably in the transformation of selected Jewson branches into the “Branch of the Future” concept. He explains that the idea takes inspiration from formats across the wider STARK Group portfolio in the Nordics, carefully tailored for the UK trade market, built around the varied needs of local tradespeople and customers. The concept has launched at key locations, including Bridgwater in Somerset, Farnborough, Luton – the former Gibbs & Dandy flagship – and, most recently St Austell in Cornwall, and, at the other end of the portfolio, Aberdeen. Carter says: “Each of our
redeveloped branches signals our commitment not just to modern facilities, but to creating environments that better support customers and colleagues alike.” Moving forward, there is likely, he says, to be fewer major big branch redevelopments, and more targeted, focused investment, using what has been learned from recent developments. That said, there is a hit list of areas where investment will be channelled: Glasgow, Edinburgh, London, Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol – big conurbations, with lots of chimney pots.
“That is very much a feature at Stark, if you look at our businesses in places like Norway, Finland, Denmark and Sweden, you’ll see we are dominant in the big cities to the tune of 35 to 45% market share. That’s not reflected in the
Merchants House, Binley Business Park, Harry Weston Road, Coventry CV3 2TT Tel: 024 7643 8400
www.starkbuild.co.uk
Brands: Jewson, JP Corry, Normans, JPS, Frazer, Minster, Project Estimator
Branches: 537
Chairman: (STARK Group A/S) Jens Bjørn Andersen CEO: (STARK UK) John Carter Other Directors: James Martin, Laurits Anton Jørgensen, Søren P. Olesen and Thomas Ahle
Approximate turnover for 2025: €2,465m
BMF Member: Yes Financial year end: July 31 2024
STARK BUILDING MATERIALS UK
TRAILBLAZERS
UK. But we are on a journey to increase our market share in those big cities,” Carter says.
He is candid about the market. “I think last year’s been appalling. Those that track markets have been slow to realise it; every forecast you see gets revised,” he says. “It’s genuinely been as hard a trading environment as I’ve ever experienced.”
While the repair and maintenance segment has remained steady, the more attractive improvement side, which is always driven by discretionary household spending, has been far more challenging. The surge in demand after Covid created strong pull-through in 2021 and 2022. But cost-of-living pressures intensified, momentum slowed, and much of that pent-up demand has already been satisfied. Carter believes the UK market
is currently “bumping along the bottom.” For him, the important thing is not dwelling on conditions but instead focusing on opportunity. “We still have a relatively modest market share in a sizeable sector, so the emphasis is on winning share rather than waiting for growth to return,” he says.
Carter sees little short-term improvement without any meaningful stimulus and is openly critical of government rhetoric, particularly on housebuilding targets, that “has not translated into action.” In his view, external support is unlikely to arrive in time to change the immediate outlook. As a result, the strategy is self- help. The formula, he argues, is straightforward: “strong local managers, better facilities, and a clear, aligned proposition that meets customer expectations.”
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A supplement to builders merchants journal April 2026
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