Plumb Centre Owner Warns That Profits Likely To Go Down

Wolseley, owner of Plumb Centre and other construction brands outlets has disappointed the financial markets with an announcement that it expects a drop of 25% in profit due to market conditions and creeping recession in the USA.

Plumb Centre, which is used by thousands of UK plumbers and heating engineers, is a major division of Wolseley. The company has announced redundancies of 3,000 staff as part of a major cost cutting restructuring. This was blamed predominantly on the slowdown in America and the slowdown of the housing market in the UK (which in itself has negative implication for local plumbers and heating engineers). Plumber Centre owner has reported a slide of 7% in pre-tax profits last financial year.

Wolseley, the world's number one distributor of heating and plumbing products is also a leading supplier of builders' products to the professional market. The company supplies a wide range of traders from plumbers and heating engineers to builders and construction professionals. It owns an impressive stable of brands such as Plumb Centre, Pipe Centre, Parts Centre, Drain Centre (most of which target plumbers and heating engineers), as well as Build Centre, Climate Centre (for builders and air conditioning professionals). In terms of interest for plumbers and heating engineers, the Plumb Centre unit has around 550 outlets all around the UK. The outlets stock many products aimed at plumbers and heating engineers, including central heating systems (boilers, radiators, cylinders), bathrooms, showers and drainage.

Many plumbers we interviewed that regularly stock up at Plumb Centre were surprised to learn about the profit drop. Some of the plumbers believe the reason for the drop is more to do with the American market than with the state of the plumbing and heating market in the UK. However, some plumbers have indeed noticed a slow down in the housing market in the UK as well which has a knock-on effect on the plumbing and heating jobs the plumbers are normally undertaking.

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This page has been written with contributions from Gas Safe engineers from Hertfordshire and qualified plumbers from Westminster. Several of the company's heating engineers from Surrey have worked on similar issues as well as some of our plumbing and heating engineers from High Wycombe and our Richmond experienced plumbers.

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