It was reported that the online bathroom retailer Plumbworld has been wholly acquired by the Highbourne Group, the parent behind City Plumbing Supplies and Plumbing Trade Supplies.
In a H.I.G. Capital company press release the Highbourne Group said that the acquisition of the Plumbworld online retail business “would strengthen its e-commerce and direct-to-consumer retail offering”.
Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Evesham and now with 160 employees, Plumbworld was the first online bathroom business in the UK and behind AIM listed Victorian Plumbing it has become one of the nation’s leading online retail platforms for (kbb) bathroom, kitchen, plumbing and heating products.
Commenting on the acquisition Dave Evans, CEO of the Highbourne Group, said: “We are delighted to welcome Plumbworld into the Highbourne Group family of businesses and see Plumbworld as highly complementary to our existing customer propositions. James Hickman and the management team at Plumbworld have built the leading online bathroom retailer in the UK and I look forward to working with them to accelerate their growth initiatives. The acquisition of Plumbworld enables us to take our proven trade customer proposition and market leading supply chain to retail customers too – meaning that we can provide customers across the UK with even quicker access to what they need, when they need it.”
The Highbourne Group operates a network of some 350 branches across the UK and Ireland with Kbb products mainly sold to local installers and larger contract customers through a multi-channel offering (retail pick-up, click & collect, delivery), as well as to a lesser extent directly to consumers.
The Highmourne Group is in turn part of H.I.G. Capital, a leading global alternative investment firm with $48 billion of equity capital under management and owner of diverse brands from UK bed brand SilentNight to multinational metals, manufacturing, chemical, media, property, real estate and logistics businesses.
This isnt the first acquisition experienced by Online bathroom retailer Plumbworld as it was previously bought by The Grafton Group in 2006.However, the firm was bought back by original founder Hickman in a management buyout in 2018 and has enjoyed steady growth since.
