Management buy-out at builders’ merchants
DIRECTORS TAKE MAJORITY STAKE IN BUSINESS THEY HAVE WORKED IN FOR MORE THAN A DECADE
A NEW head office has been opened and an expansion strategy laid down following the management buy-out of Scunthorpe’s Builders’ Merchant Company Ltd.
Duncan and Jane Thomson have taken over the business, after more than a decade behind its operations.
Now it is being led from Humberston’s Hewitts Business Park, as the central team grows beyond The Brickyard base in North Lincolnshire.
The husband and wife couple, who live in Waltham, completed the deal in the summer.
“We have always wanted our own business, and here we are after many years of hard work, this is now a reality,” they said.
“Our strategy has been a minimum of five branches in five years and we are currently identifying a number of opportunities and developments for us to explore in the near future. Exciting times ahead!”
Earlier this year they relocated to a larger site in Hull, with Rotherham and Goole added to the original base off Scotter Road South.
It projects a £12 million turnover for 2021, with staff numbers having increased from 11 to 54 in the period the Thomsons have been on board.
The deal is described as providing the “appropriate structure to make possible future growth plans a reality for the management team and staff”.
George Jewitt, managing director of the previous holding company, Glenrock, will remain a shareholder in the business his grandparents started.
He said: “I am pleased the reins of BMC are in the safe hands of Duncan and Jane, and the new holding company, Thomson Building Supplies Ltd, and I am sure it will go from strength to strength.”
Operations can be traced back to 1928, and a depot in Scunthorpe’s John Street. It joined forces with Winteringham Brothers - timber importers of Grimsby during the Second World War - and was known as Harrison and Jewitt for a time, before reverting back to the original Builders’ Merchant Company in 2011.
Two new directors have also been appointed. Steve Quigley, regional operational manager, becomes operations director, having been with the business for six years since joining as Hull branch manager. Non-executive director David Hewitt has accepted the role of chairman, and brings with him a wealth of experience from the business world and will help to support the management team’s future growth strategy.
“As with any important business change, we will always continue to work closely with our customers and suppliers, ensuring our customers will always receive the same high standards they have always expected,” the Thomsons added.
We have always wanted our own business, and here we are after many years of
hard work ... Duncan and Jane
Thomson