How it started
History
The business was founded by Malcolm Billington and Brian Mayman: the first store opened in Cleveleys, England, in 1978. It was originally named Billington & Mayman, based on the founders' names, but was soon shortened to "B&M". The company was the subject of a management buyout, financed by Phildrew Investments, in October 1996.
It was acquired by Simon and Bobby Arora from Phildrew Investments in December 2004.
In September 2006, the business saw significant growth, by acquiring the GlynWebb chain of Do It Yourself (DIY) stores and converting them into the B&M Home Store format. The company also acquired a number of former Kwik Save, Woolworths, and Au-Naturale stores.
The business moved into a new office and modern 620,000 sq ft (58,000 m2) distribution centre based in Speke, Liverpool in 2010. In May 2011, B&M also purchased a number of Focus DIY stores.
In December 2012, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, one of the world's leading private equity funds, acquired a significant stake in B&M, and Sir Terry Leahy and Vindi Banga joined the Board of Directors.
From Wikipedia’s article on B&M, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2