Wolseley UK to add heating and bathroom businesses in triple purchase

Wolseley UK has agreed to buy Northern Irish plumbing and heating merchant Bassetts, Guernsey-based heating and bathroom supplier DHS and bathroom supplier Neville Lumb from Saint-Gobain, with the acquisitions set to be completed in the first half of 2022.

Bassetts claims to be Northern Ireland’s largest plumbing and heating merchant, with 14 trade counters. It recently opened a Heating Innovation Centre to showcase renewable heating options.

The merchant said that the acquisitions will be a seamless transition, with the outlets operating as normal and no change for customers.

Together the four brands employ around 485 people and in 2020 posted combined turnover of approximately €130 million.

At the same time, Wolseley UK has entered into ‘exclusive negotiations’ for the acquisition of Ideal Bathrooms.

Keith Dorling, managing director for Wolseley Plumbing and Heating said: “Business acquisition is a key aspect of our ambitious growth strategy. The deal with Saint-Gobain will strengthen our ability to provide the local, personal service and expertise for which we’re renowned…We believe our employees make our business what it is, and our new recruits are joining an exciting forward-thinking business with a gold standard workplace culture, an award-winning talent strategy, and industry-leading employee incentives and benefits.”

Mr Dorling added:

“Through our expansion into new and existing markets and our commitment to providing opportunities for career growth, it is our ambition to combine the best components of our new acquisitions to further reinforce our position as a market leader in subject matter expertise, customer service, product range and reliability. Ultimately, our goal is to provide a sustainable service for our customers and our customers’ customers – and this is significant step towards that.”