Wolseley UK is a supplier of building materials, with trade customers (plumbers and builders) accounting for the largest proportion of its sales.
[2] Herbert Austin, who had worked on Wolseley's shearing machinery development in Melbourne, Australia from 1887, when he was aged just 20, was appointed its manager and received a share of its equity.
[3] The postwar rise of synthetic textiles sharply reduced the demand for wool and the necessary machinery, and in 1960, Wolseley diversified activities, by buying Nu Way Heating Limited.
[6] With parent company Ferguson plc's ownership of similar operations in North America, Wolseley UK was part of one of the largest network of builders merchants in the world.
In January 2021, Wolseley UK was sold by Ferguson to a private equity firm, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, for £308m.
[7] In July 2021, Wolseley UK bought selected Graham Plumbers' Merchant stores after Saint-Gobain divested the business.