Nadine Matthews, Jewson MD
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Jewson has today joined STARK Group A/S, 1st March, as the acquisition, first announced on the 12th December, of Jewson’s parent company Saint-Gobain Building Distribution UK, has been completed by STARK Group.
Jewson has now joined one of the fastest growing merchants and distribution groups in Europe and a business completely focussed on its expertise in distributing building materials for Tradespeople.
The Jewson brand name, much recognised and respected by those in the industry will continue and Jewson will become part of the UK subsidiary of STARK Group, STARK Building Materials UK.
Nadine Matthews, MD of Jewson, said: “Our priority as a business is to develop strategic industry partnerships that benefit our customers, suppliers and colleagues – and we believe that’s exactly what we’ll be able to deliver now that we are part of the STARK Group.
“As a leading distributor of building materials across Europe, STARK Group, like Jewson, is a customer-first business that is completely focussed on meeting the needs of all our customers from builders and tradespeople, through to our relationships with National housebuilders and our offering through Jewson Partnership Solutions for our social housing customers. Our businesses are united by the same values, and by working together, we know we can develop the very best offering available on the market.
“We have a clear and consistent strategy for growth, which STARK has demonstrated true belief in, and we now have an opportunity to learn from their successful experience across Europe to build even further on our plans. STARK has a tremendous track record in helping businesses reach their full potential, and we’re excited to see the positive impact this will have on our customers, suppliers and colleagues – the people who are critical to our success.
“While this is a significant moment in Jewson’s history, those we work with daily won’t notice any immediate change to our operations. It’s very much business as usual and we will continue to trade as normal to ensure our customers can keep on delivering for their own customers and projects.
“We see the STARK Group and Jewson as kindred spirits, and the future looks very bright.”
STARK Group CEO Søren P Olesen said: “We are very pleased to have completed this acquisition in great time and look forward to welcoming the 5905 colleagues and 510 branches from Jewson to STARK. We have a strategy that successfully focuses on professional tradespeople and the renovation and maintenance market together with specialist distribution for a range of customer segments. Entering the UK market is a great opportunity for our combined business to share best practice across the Nordics, Germany, Austria and the UK making life even easier for tradespeople.
We’re delighted to now be a major employer in the UK, with 9000 colleagues, where we will continue to operate as a good corporate citizen, placing a strong emphasis on sustainability, valuing and caring about our new UK employees and supporting UK growth and building decarbonisation,” says Olesen.
