When brothers Simon and Bobby Arora bought B&M in 2004, it had 20 stores and was making a loss. By the time the discount retailer floated in 2014, it had 350 stores and was valued at £2.7bn — 270p a share.
As of last week, B&M had 650 stores and a market value of £4.8bn, which earned the Merseyside-based group a place on the FTSE 100 index.
The chain has emerged as one of the winners of the Covid-19 crisis. After lockdown started in March, it was able to keep most stores open on the basis that it was an essential retailer. The group’s Heron Foods frozen goods chain also continued trading, although its Babou and B&M stores in France had to close to comply