Variety retailers in the United Kingdom
B&M European Value Retail S.A.
, trading as
B&M
, is a British multinational
variety store
chain founded in 1978 and incorporated in Luxembourg. It is listed on the
London Stock Exchange
, and is a constituent of the
FTSE 100 Index
.
It has 703 stores in the United Kingdom and 104 stores in France, following the acquisition of
Babou
stores.
[4]
[5]
History
[
edit
]
The business was founded by Malcolm Billington and Brian Mayman: the first store opened in
Cleveleys
, England, in 1978.
[6]
It was originally named
Billington & Mayman
, based on the founders' names, but was soon shortened to "B&M."
[7]
The company was the subject of a
management buyout
, financed by Phildrew Investments, in October 1996.
[8]
It was acquired by
Simon
and
Bobby Arora
from Phildrew Investments in December 2004.
[9]
In September 2006, the business saw significant growth, by acquiring the GlynWebb chain of
Do It Yourself
(DIY) stores and converting them into the B&M Homestore format.
[10]
The company also acquired a number of former
Kwik Save
,
[11]
[12]
Woolworths
,
[13]
and Au-Naturale stores.
[14]
The business moved into a new office and modern 620,000 sq ft (58,000 m
2
)
distribution centre
based in
Speke
,
Liverpool
in 2010.
[15]
In May 2011, B&M also purchased a number of
Focus DIY
stores.
[16]
In December 2012,
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
, one of the world's leading
private equity funds
, acquired a significant
stake
in B&M, and
Sir Terry Leahy
and Vindi Banga joined the
Board of Directors
.
[17]
In March 2014, the business acquired a majority stake in German discount retailer Jawoll and then opened a new 500,000 sq ft distribution centre in Speke, Liverpool.
[15]
In June 2014, the business was the subject of an
initial public offering
.
[18]
However, upon detailed analysis by the
Columbia Business School
, it was found the
IPO
of B&M was overhyped due to an already saturated market in the UK.
[19]
In November 2014, the business opened its 400th store (in
Stockport
)
[20]
and claimed to serve in excess of three million customers every week.
[21]
During July 2017, the company completed the acquisition of the smaller frozen food store chain
Heron Foods
for £152 million.
[22]
[23]
In 2018 the company started a trial of converting Heron Food branches to B&M Express.
[24]
As of 31 January 2018, B&M European Value Retail S.A. had issued 1,000,561,222 ordinary shares at the opening price of 10 pence.
[25]
In October 2018, the company acquired French discount retailer Babou for €91.2 million,
[26]
and by the end of 2021, the Babou brand was replaced by B&M.
[27]
On 4 February 2022, the company opened its 700th store at Border Retail Park in
Wrexham
.
[28]
In September 2023, it was announced B&M had acquired 51 former
Wilko
stores from the
administrator
for £13 million.
[29]
Controversy
[
edit
]
Fire safety
[
edit
]
In 2012, B&M pleaded guilty at Mansfield Magistrates Court to six fire safety offences under the
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
following a visit from Fire Protection officers of the
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service
to their
Mansfield
store in October 2011. Officers had previously visited in June 2011 and found numerous breaches of the order, including blocked fire exits. However, the failings were found to have been repeated in the revisit and the firm was fined £32,984.17.
[30]
Underage sale of knives
[
edit
]
In 2018, B&M was fined a record £480,000 by Barkingside Magistrates’ Court for selling knives to three children under the age of 18 in test purchases at stores in
Redbridge
and
Barking
. The fine was reduced from £720,000 as the business pleaded guilty.
[31]
[32]
COVID-19 rates relief controversy
[
edit
]
In March 2020, as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
,
Rishi Sunak
, then
Chancellor of the Exchequer
, gave
business rates
relief and
furlough
payments to businesses in the hospitality and retail sectors.
[33]
[34]
B&M was among several businesses classified as 'essential retailers' and as a result was allowed to remain open when other 'non-essential businesses had to close.
[35]
[36]
In November 2020, B&M and other retailers were subject to a public outcry for having not handed back payments totalling £1.8 billion intended for propping up retailers prevented from trading due to restrictions, despite making record profits.
[37]
The retailer declared £296 million in profit and as a result issued a £250 million special dividend despite having received £38 million in business rates relief and £3.7 million in furlough payments.
[37]
[38]
Brothers
Simon
and
Bobby Arora
, the CEO and trading director respectively, received a combined total of £37 million of the special dividend due to their 15% shareholding which is said to be worth at least £750 million.
[38]
[35]
The firm agreed to pay £80 million in business rate relief it had saved, a move mirrored by major supermarkets including
Tesco
,
Sainsbury's
and
Morrisons
.
[36]
Electrical Safety
[
edit
]
In July 2022, B&M was fined £1 million by the
Health and Safety Executive
after it was found to have failed in the appointment of a "suitably competent person" to plan and execute work connecting temporary generators at its warehouse in
Liverpool
. The failing resulted in an electrical explosion causing electrocution and bodily burns of an electrician working on the project.
[39]
Domestic operations
[
edit
]
As of 2021, the company currently has 686 stores in the UK and a further 275 Heron Foods stores.
[4]
Over the period 2016 to 2018, the company opened another 100 stores as it reached 600 stores in November 2018.
[40]
In September 2020, the company announced that it planned to open about 45 stores, offering everything from tinned and frozen meals to wallpaper and bedding plants, which has become a lockdown phenomenon.
[41]
Since September 2012, some stores have also been selling
National Lottery
goods.
[42]
Financial performance
[
edit
]
The financial performance has been as follows:
Year ending
|
Revenue
(£ million)
|
Profit
|
Operating
(£ million)
|
Pre-tax
(£ million)
|
Retained
(£ million)
|
25 March 2023
[2]
|
4,983.0
|
536.0
|
436.0
|
348.0
|
26 March 2022
[43]
|
4,673.0
|
610.0
|
525.0
|
422.0
|
27 March 2021
[44]
|
4,801.4
|
613.4
|
525.4
|
428.1
|
31 March 2020
[45]
|
3,813.4
|
332.8
|
252.0
|
80.9
|
31 March 2019
[46]
|
3,486.3
|
264.4
|
249.4
|
202.7
|
31 March 2018
[47]
|
3,029.8
|
239.8
|
229.3
|
185.8
|
25 March 2017
[48]
|
2,430.7
|
204.5
|
182.9
|
144.0
|
26 March 2016
[49]
|
2,035.3
|
174.5
|
154.5
|
125.8
|
28 March 2015
[50]
|
1,646.8
|
132.9
|
61.7
|
39.9
|
29 March 2014 (65-week period)
[51]
|
1,509.1
|
123.5
|
123.4
|
115.9
|
31 December 2012
[52]
|
935.2
|
88.1
|
88.3
|
66.3
|
31 December 2011
[52]
|
712.6
|
52.0
|
51.7
|
38.0
|
31 December 2010
[53]
|
538.3
|
35.4
|
35.2
|
25.3
|
31 December 2009
[53]
|
426.6
|
34.0
|
33.8
|
24.5
[54]
|
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[
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]
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- ^
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- ^
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- ^
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.
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- ^
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- ^
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.
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.
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- ^
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.
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.
- ^
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"
.
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- ^
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.
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.
- ^
"B&M enters France with Babou acquisition"
.
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. 23 October 2018
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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.
leparisien.fr
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
"Take a SNEAK PEEK inside Wrexham's new B&M store before it opens tomorrow"
.
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. 3 February 2022.
- ^
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.
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. 5 September 2023
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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"Notts fire safety prosecution serves as warning to..."
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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.
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
"B&M fined for illegal knife sales to east London teens"
.
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.
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:
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. 21 September 2018. Archived from
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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"What support is the government offering to get through the coronavirus pandemic?"
.
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.
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: Independent Digital News & Media Ltd. Archived from
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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.
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.
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. Archived from
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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b
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.
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.
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.
- ^
a
b
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.
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
a
b
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.
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.
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- ^
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.
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- ^
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.
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- ^
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.
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External links
[
edit
]
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