Selling tools and other kit to odd-jobbing DIYers for a healthy profit has become an increasingly tough proposition for Travis Perkins. Three years of pressure on sales and margins at its consumer business probably makes it a smart move to tidy up the vast majority of it for a sale and concentrate on serving the trades.
Travis Perkins began life as the Benjamin Ingram company in 1797 and was transformed into its present guise via a series of mergers and acquisitions, including of the Wickes Home Improvement Group in 2005. As well as Wickes, it trades as Toolstation and Tile Giant for consumers and other brands, including City Plumbing, Keyline and BSS, supplying the plumbing and heating trades and small builders. It employs 27,500 staff