Hughes Forrest

What Hughes Forrest does

Hughes Forrest Ltd is a privately held UK builders' merchant originally established in 1931 as Hughes, Forrest & Evans, operating from two locations in South Wales — its head office branch at Bolt Street, Newport, and a second site with kitchen and bathroom showroom on the Newbridge Road Industrial Estate, Pontllanfraith, Blackwood. The company supplies building materials, timber and sheet materials, roofing products (including Velux and Fakro roof windows), landscaping supplies, plumbing and heating goods, drainage and guttering, painting and decorating supplies, tiling, tools and PPE, workwear and footwear, doors, stairs, flooring and wall panelling, plus bathroom and kitchen products. The product catalog encompasses dozens of branded lines including Stanley, DeWALT, Bostik, Soudal, and Cromar.

Hughes Forrest operates a hybrid physical-and-digital distribution model: customers can purchase from showrooms and branches in person or transact through the e-commerce storefront at hughesforrest.com, with free delivery offered on orders above £150. The company runs a trade account program alongside public consumer sales and markets itself through the e-commerce website and a Facebook page (facebook.com/HughesForrestBuildersMerchant). It is a member of two industry bodies — the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) and the National Buying Group (NBG) — the latter providing collective purchasing power common to independent UK builders' merchants.

Revenue is generated primarily through one-time retail sales of construction materials, complemented by kitchen and bathroom showroom design services and repeat trade-account volume. Pricing follows standard unit retail pricing with a free-delivery threshold, and trade accounts operate on multi-year contractual terms. The customer base is split between trade professionals (builders, contractors, renovators — the primary segment) and public consumers undertaking DIY and home improvement projects. There is no indication of public listing, parent-company ownership, private-equity backing, institutional investment, M&A activity, or external capital events.

Name

Hughes Forrest

Legal name

Hughes Forrest Ltd

Website

https://hughesforrest.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1931

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Hughes Forrest Ltd is a privately held UK builders' merchant, founded in 1931, supplying building materials, timber, roofing, landscaping, plumbing, tools and kitchens/bathrooms to trade professionals and public consumers through two South Wales branches (Newport and Blackwood) and an e-commerce website with delivery.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Newport

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Building Materials Retail Sales: Revenue generated from selling building materials, timber, roofing, landscaping supplies, tools, plumbing, heating, and related products to trade customers and public consumers through physical branches, showrooms, and e-commerce channels.
2. Kitchen & Bathroom Showroom Sales: Revenue from design services and product sales through dedicated kitchen and bathroom showrooms in Newport and Blackwood.
3. Trade Account Sales: Volume-based sales to registered trade accounts with potential for dedicated pricing and delivery terms.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Hughes Forrest is a UK regional builders' merchant that supplies building materials, timber, roofing, landscaping, plumbing, heating, painting and decorating products, tools, PPE, kitchens, bathrooms, flooring, doors and stairs to trade professionals and the general public. The business operates physical branches and kitchen and bathroom showrooms in Newport and Blackwood, Gwent, complemented by an e-commerce platform and trade account service, drawing on roughly 95 years of heritage and affiliations with BMF and NBG buying groups.

Product overview

Hughes Forrest is a builders' merchant serving the trade and public with building materials and related products. The company operates as a single unified offering combining physical branch locations with an e-commerce platform. The core product portfolio spans building materials (sand, cement, bricks, blocks, insulation, metal work), timber and sheet materials, roofing (including Velux and Fakro roof windows), landscaping (paving, decking, fencing, artificial grass), doors and stairs, plumbing and heating, painting and decorating, tiling, drainage and guttering, tools and PPE, and clothing and footwear. Additional services include kitchen and bathroom showrooms with design appointments. The company distributes over 30 branded product lines including Stanley, DeWALT, Bostik, Soudal, Cromar, and others.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Building materials and timber supply Retail supply of core construction materials and timber for trade builders, contractors, and DIY customers renovating or building in the South Wales region.
• Roofing, landscaping and drainage supplies Range of roofing products, landscaping materials and drainage goods sold to trade and retail customers for exterior and garden projects.
• Plumbing and heating supplies Plumbing and heating products offered to installers, tradespeople and home renovators.
• Painting, decorating, tiling and tools Paints, decorating supplies, tiling, hand and power tools (including brands such as Stanley and DeWALT), ladders and stairs for trade and DIY users.
• Kitchen and bathroom showroom service Dedicated showroom offering kitchens, bathrooms, flooring, doors and associated products for consumers and trade customers planning renovation or new-build projects.
• PPE, workwear, clothing and footwear Personal protective equipment, work clothing and footwear supplied to trade and consumer buyers.
• Trade account service Dedicated trade pricing and account facility for building professionals and repeat trade buyers purchasing from Hughes Forrest branches and website.
• Online ordering and local delivery service E-commerce ordering platform with home delivery across the local South Wales catchment, including a free delivery threshold over a stated order value.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• BMF (Builders Merchants Federation)minorOthersIndustry association membership providing networking, training, and industry representation for building materials merchants.
• NBG (National Buying Group)minorOthersMember of National Buying Group, a purchasing consortium that provides collective buying power and supplier deals for independent builders' merchants.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Gibbs & Dandy: UK builders' merchant with a regional branch network focused on trade customers, part of the Saint-Gobain distribution family. Comparable trade-oriented builders' merchant with similar product breadth.
• Bradfords: Independent regional builders' merchant in the South West of England with branches serving trade and public customers. Comparable as a long-established independent builders' merchant with similar branch-led, multi-category model.
• Travis Perkins: The UK's largest builders' merchant operating a national network of branches, trade counters, and online ordering. Directly comparable as a multi-category builders' merchant serving both trade professionals and the public, though at vastly greater scale and with a much larger branch footprint.
• Selco Builders Warehouse: Trade-only builders' merchant with a network of UK branches. Comparable in core product range (building materials, timber, landscaping, plumbing) with a strictly trade-customer focus — a sharper trade-only version of Hughes Forrest's trade account business.
• MKM Building Supplies: Independent UK builders' merchant group with a regional branch network, mixing trade and retail customers. Closely comparable to Hughes Forrest in business model and scale as an independent multi-branch merchant that has grown via acquisition while remaining independent in ethos.
• Jewson: Major UK builders' merchant owned by Saint-Gobain with hundreds of branches nationwide. Comparable multi-category product range (building materials, timber, roofing, landscaping, kitchens, bathrooms) targeting trade and DIY customers via branch and online channels.
• Wickes: UK home improvement retailer and builders' merchant with a national branch network plus an e-commerce platform. Comparable in serving trade and DIY customers across building materials, kitchens, bathrooms, and landscaping, with a stronger consumer/DIY tilt than Hughes Forrest.
• Howden Joinery: UK kitchen and joinery supplier serving trade customers via a depot-based model and direct delivery. Comparable as a trade-focused merchant where kitchen showrooms/design services are a key differentiator, overlapping directly with Hughes Forrest's kitchen & bathroom showroom offering.
• Buildbase: Builders' merchant brand owned by Saint-Gobain with a UK branch network supplying building materials and related products to trade customers. Comparable multi-category range and trade-customer orientation.

Regional players

• EH Smith: Long-established independent builders' merchant based in the Midlands with a regional branch footprint. Comparable independent builders' merchant model and trade/DIY customer mix, though operating in a different UK region than Hughes Forrest.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/HughesForrestBuildersMerchant
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hughes-forrest

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Hughes Forrest