Parkes Services sold to Grafton Group plc

Bristol-based Parkes Services, an independent heating and ventilation merchant, has been acquired by Dublin-based Grafton Group plc, an international distributor of building materials and construction-related products listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Founded in 1989, at the time of the transaction, Parkes Services was a distributor of plumbing equipment to the heating, ventilation, and plumbing industries.

Grafton Group plc, founded in 1902 as Chadwicks (Dublin) Ltd by William Chadwick, is now an international business operating in the distribution, manufacturing and DIY retail sectors of the building materials industry. The group operates a B2B distribution model supplying building materials and construction-related products in Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands, Finland, and Spain. Customers are mainly small-and-medium-sized contractors and installers principally active in the residential repair, maintenance and improvement (RMI) and new-build end-markets. The group also operates the largest consumer-focused DIY retailer in Ireland, which complements its Irish distribution business, and it manufactures and distributes mortar and timber windows and staircases in the UK.

Acquisitions play a key role in the Grafton Group’s growth strategy, facilitating both geographic expansion and the broadening of its product offering and customer reach. The acquisition of Parkes Services expanded market coverage into the Bristol area of England.