What Danby does

B Danby & Co Ltd (trading as Danbys) is a privately held, Hull-headquartered B2B trade merchant founded in 1891 by Benjamin Danby and incorporated as a private limited company in 1909. The company supplies trade professionals — plumbers, heating engineers, electricians, bathroom installers, electrical contractors and renewable energy installers — with a multi-category product range spanning bathroom equipment, plumbing supplies, central heating components (gas, LPG, oil, and heat pump systems), electrical materials (cable, switchgear, lighting from brands such as Legrand, Hager, Wylex), and renewable energy products. Distribution is exclusively through its own network of 8 physical branches across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire (Hull Plumbing & Heating, Hull Electrical, Anlaby, Grimsby, Harrogate, Scarborough, Scunthorpe and York), supported by an owned delivery fleet and credit-account terms (end of month following delivery). Bathroom showrooms at Anlaby and Grimsby provide a semi-retail layer to the otherwise trade-only proposition.

The company's product portfolio is entirely sourced from third-party manufacturers rather than produced in-house; there is no proprietary technology platform, no e-commerce evidence in the source data, and no app or API. Group structure includes two wholly-owned subsidiaries retained under their acquired names: Marshall and Gray (Yorkshire) Ltd (building merchants, acquired 1970) and Danfast Industrial and Leisure (acquired 1989 via the Linfast Holdings purchase), which brought a bonded warehouse facility onto the flagship 64,000 sq ft English Street site in Hull. Danby is part of a broader 'Danby Group of companies'. Revenue is not publicly disclosed, and the company has not raised external funding rounds. Recent strategic emphasis has shifted toward renewable energy product ranges to align with the UK's heat-pump and decarbonisation transition.

Name

Danby

Legal name

B Danby & Co Ltd

Website

https://danbys.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1891

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

B Danby & Co Ltd is a privately held, Hull-headquartered B2B trade merchant founded in 1891, supplying plumbers, heating engineers, electricians and renewable-energy installers across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire via 8 physical branches with an owned delivery fleet.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Sutton On Hull

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Plumbing, Heating and Electrical Product Sales: B Danby & Co Ltd generates revenue through the sale of plumbing, heating, electrical, bathroom, and renewable energy products to trade professionals. The company operates as a merchant wholesaler, supplying products from leading industry brands at competitive prices.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Core offering

Danby (B Danby & Co Ltd) is an independent trade merchant supplying plumbing, heating, electrical, bathroom, and renewable energy products to trade professionals. The company stocks extensive ranges from leading industry brands and distributes through 8 physical branch locations across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, using its own delivery fleet.

Product overview

B Danby & Co Ltd operates as an independent plumbing, heating, and electrical merchants offering a comprehensive product portfolio across multiple categories. The business model centers on supplying trade professionals with extensive ranges of bathroom products (showers, enclosures, suites, and furniture), plumbing supplies (pipes, fittings, and water cylinders), heating equipment (boilers, radiators, and controls for gas, LPG, oil, and heat pump systems), electrical materials (cable, switchgear, and lighting from major brands), and renewable energy products. The company has recently expanded into renewable energy product ranges to address changing market demands. A separate Danby appliance brand manufactures countertop dishwashers as portable household appliances for compact living spaces.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bathroom Products Complete bathroom equipment including showers, shower enclosures, bathroom suites, bathroom furniture, and accessories for professional bathroom installations and renovations.
• Plumbing Products Full range of plumbing supplies including Polypipe plastics, brass foundry products, and special-sized water storage cylinders with competitive pricing and quick sourcing of special orders for trade customers.
• Heating Products Central heating components including condensing boilers, full heating systems with radiators, valves, and controls for Gas, LPG, Oil, or Heat Pump installations for trade professionals.
• Electrical Products Domestic and commercial electrical materials including cable, switchgear, commercial lighting, and products from brands such as Legrand, Timeguard, JCC, Dextra, Hager, Wylex, Ansell, Gewiss, and Deta.
• Renewable Energy Products Renewable energy product ranges including heat pumps and related components, added to the portfolio to meet changing market demands and support sustainable energy installations.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Danby Group of CompaniescoreOthersB Danby & Co Ltd is part of the Danby Group of companies. The company may share customer information with other companies within the Group for marketing purposes if customers consent. The Group includes multiple entities operating in related sectors.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Selco Builders Warehouse: National trade-only builders' merchant with 70+ branches focused on plumbing, heating, electrical, and general building products. Comparable in trade customer model and product categories, but operates at much larger scale and is owned by Grafton Group.
• Jewson: National builders' merchant chain owned by Saint-Gobain, supplying plumbing, heating, kitchens, and general building products. Comparable as a trade-counter multi-category merchant, but at substantially larger scale and broader portfolio than Danby.
• Travis Perkins: Largest UK builders' merchant operating 1,000+ branches, including dedicated plumbing and heating categories. Directly comparable as a multi-branch trade merchant serving plumbers, heating engineers, and electricians, but at vastly greater national scale and with a much broader product portfolio than Danby.

Direct peers

• MKM Building Supplies: UK independent builders' merchant with 100+ branches including dedicated plumbing, heating, and electrical categories. Closely comparable as an independent-led, branch-based trade merchant growing organically and via acquisition in regional UK markets.
• EH Smith Builders Merchants: Long-established independent Midlands-based builders' merchant offering plumbing, heating, bathrooms, and kitchens to trade customers. Comparable in independent heritage, multi-category trade focus, and scale (similar branch count and headcount range to Danby).
• Wolseley UK (Ferguson UK): One of the UK's leading distributors of plumbing, heating, and cooling products to trade professionals, with the Plumb Center and Pipe Center brands. Highly comparable in product mix (plumbing, heating, renewables) and target customer (installers), and is a much larger national competitor to Danby's core categories.
• Heating and Plumbing Supplies (HPS): UK distributor of heating, plumbing, and renewable energy products serving independent merchants and installers. Comparable in product mix — particularly the heating and renewables overlap with Danby's renewable energy expansion — and in B2B trade customer focus.
• City Plumbing Supplies: National plumbing, heating, and bathroom merchant serving trade and retail customers across the UK. Directly comparable business model — multi-branch trade counter plus showroom — competing head-to-head with Danby in plumbing, heating, and bathroom product categories.

Regional players

• Bradfords Building Supplies: Independent builders' merchant founded in 1770 with branches across the South West of England. Comparable as a long-established independent trade merchant with plumbing/heating/electrical categories, but serves a different region to Danby rather than overlapping territorially.
• Parker Building Supplies: Independent builders' merchant group operating across the South East of England with plumbing, heating, and bathroom categories. Comparable independent-led, multi-branch trade model, but with a non-overlapping geographic footprint versus Danby.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/danbys-ltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Danby