PLUMBING & DRAINAGE DRAINAGE
of. Most sites, he says, are ultimately capped by space, power or both. “Not only do we have unlimited space – relatively speaking – but also unlimited power. One of the legacies of the clay pipe business is our enormous gas feed because we used to have the sort of kilns which guzzle gas. Plus, three or four years ago, we put in a CHP plant. So, we can generate as much or as little electricity as we want. It’s the first time I’ve ever experienced this in my working career, where we effectively have no physical restrictions and no power restrictions,” he says. “Having both space and power available like this is extraordinarily rare, and it makes growth incredibly exciting.” Private ownership plays a crucial role in enabling long-term thinking, Naylor believes. Unlike with listed businesses, there’s not the constant pressure to deliver quarter-on-quarter growth. “We don’t have the stock market looking over our shoulder,” he says. “If the market is terrible, we don’t have to shut plants or lose people. We can take the long view.”
New markets
That view increasingly centres on electrification and net zero. As pressure mounts to expand charging infrastructure and alternative energy generation, demand for ducting, protection and associated infrastructure is rising fast, and PVC pipe has a central role to play. Ainger sees the current grid constraints as the inevitable result of years of underinvestment. “Everyone who was in that space 10 or 15 years ago knew we’d end up here,” he says. “For us, it represents a massive opportunity, one for which we are very well positioned.”
The acquisition of Tuff Pipes in 2022 helps this. Originally a low-cost PVC tube operation, the business was relocated from Burnley onto the main site at Barnsley. Significant investment followed, including upgraded machinery, new recruits with deep PVC expertise, and a concerted push to secure DNO approvals, already secured for the North West and Scotland.
Naylor’s pipe portfolio now spans three
Above: Samantha Smith
core areas: power and electrification ducting, sewer systems, and drainage and water management. The underlying demand drivers are clear. Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, flooding is widespread, and infrastructure is under strain. Electrification, meanwhile, continues to gather pace.
Alongside plastics, concrete remains the company’s third major focus. Naylor has made high-performance concrete lintels since the 1960s, and in 2021 it acquired Proctor Fencing in Garforth following the Proctor Group’s administration. As with Tuff Pipes, underinvestment had taken its toll. Naylor is now midway through a £5 million capital investment programme at the site, overseen by Ainger and due to go live in 2026, significantly increasing capacity.
Construction cycles being what they are, recovery often comes quickly once it starts. “When it does take off, it tends to do so faster than merchants can cope with,” Naylor says. While large civils distributors can easily absorb full lorry loads of lintels, smaller merchants value flexibility. Being able to offer mixed loads such as fence posts and lintels together strengthens Naylor’s proposition and makes it easier to do business with. After a year of restructuring and heavy investment, Ainger believes the business is well aligned, even in a flat market. The priority now is to build on those foundations, with a strong emphasis on partnerships and customer
February 2026
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net
insight. Part of that includes a restructuring of the sales function. Samantha Smith has joined the company as sales director from the beginning of February, from Keyline Civils Specialist where she spent nine years as national sales manager before being promoted to regional sales director.
She will be heading-up an extended sales and commercial team comprising of four regional sales managers, a highways sector specialist and a sales manager for power. Naylor’s commercial manager and team will also be part of the reporting lines. The teams will be spending more time in the market, feeding customer feedback directly back into the organisation.
“We’re taking the long-term view,” Ainger says. “Sam’s experience and knowledge of the market from the merchant angle is really going to help us ensure that our offer, – product and customer service – is exactly what the market needs. We aim to grow in a market that isn’t growing, and that in itself would be a strong result. A lot of that will come from power, but also from being better aligned with customers across all our product areas. So we think this will be a very exciting year.” BMJ
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