Victoria Plumb understood to be up for sale

ONE of Britain’s leading bathroom retailers could soon change hands for more than £150m.

Victoria Plumb, which sells on the internet and by mail order, is working with advisers from KPMG on the proposed sale.

The bathroom business is owned by the Walker family, who are best known for buying the MFI brand after the collapse of the flat-pack furniture chain.

Walker Group acquired the rights to the MFI name in 2010 for a reported £250,000, and went on to buy the Focus DIY brand.

Victoria Plumb was launched in 2001 by brothers Sean and Jason Walker and grew quickly.

According to the most recent publicly available accounts, the Hull-based business delivered sales of £26.2m in the year to February and achieved pre-tax profits of £6m. A year earlier it reported sales of £19m and profits of £4.8m. The accounts state that the retailer employs more than 70 staff.

The Walkers maintain a low profile. They declined to comment on the possible sale of Victoria Plumb.

The online store is expected to attract interest from other DIY retailers and builders’ merchants as well as private equity investors.

Source : Matthew Goodman - The Sunday Times
www.thesundaytimes.co.uk