Cairngorm Capital acquires £100m turnover merchant

Thames Valley-based Grant & Stone, established in 1987, has three specialist building, plumbing and electrical divisions, with 29 branches consisting of builders' merchants, electrical wholesalers, plumbers' merchants, timber merchants, as well as eight kitchen and bathroom showrooms.

Its ecommerce subsidiary, Trading Depot, was launched in March 2008 as a one-stop solution for competitively priced, quality building supplies and tools to trade and retail customers.

Headquartered in High Wycombe, Grant & Stone employs 360 people and in 2019 achieved revenues of £100m.

Cairngorm Capital acquired the business from Grant & Stone's founding shareholders and is backing the incumbent management team, led by chief executive Nick House, commercial director Peter Cudd, and divisional managing directors Andy Grant, Mat Miller and Matt Bland.

Cairngorm Capital said Grant & Stone would continue to aim to grow through a combination of new branch openings and acquisitions. The ambition is to transform the scale of the business and to become a market leader in the builders' merchant sector in the region.

“We welcome the investment and support from Cairngorm Capital,” said Mr House.

“Our company is at a really exciting point in its development and is ready to capitalise on the numerous growth opportunities available to it.”

Bob Grant, one of the retiring founders of Grant & Stone, said himself, Susan Grant, Richard Stone and Susan Stone were proud of what they had achieved to date but recognised the company has the potential to achieve much more.

“This is the natural point for us to pass the company to new, trusted custodians who can deliver on its future potential,” he said.