industry retailer founded bingley england 1918 founder tom duxbury headquarters darlington england number of locations 222 stores oct 09 area served united kingdom isle of man guernsey products kitchens joinery owner nobia ab number of employees c2 000 website www.magnet.co.uk www.magnettrade.co.uk magnet is a british kitchen retailer operating in over 200 locations across the uk supplying products under the magnet and magnet trade brands . the company has over 2 000 employees and its headquarters are in darlington county durham . magnet was listed on the london stock exchange and was once a constituent of the ftse 100 index but is now part of nobia uk a division of the nobia group which is listed on the swedish stock exchange . the nobia division also includes brands such as gower hygena and norema . contents 1 history 1.1 formation and early years 1.2 1960s 1.3 1970s 1.4 1980s 1.5 1990s 1.6 2000s 2 operations 2.1 magnet 2.2 magnet trade 2.3 mixed sites 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit formation and early years edit magnet was established in bingley west yorkshire in 1918 by tom duxbury . legend has it that duxbury traded his horse for a firelighting company and named his new company magnet after the horse . during the 1920s magnet pioneered the mass production of joinery door and window products and soon began supplying joinery components for major construction projects . new operations were opened in keighley grays and knaresborough to satisfy demand for the growing business . 1960s edit in 1960 the company opened its first branch in bingley . this concept of the company having their own outlets quickly develops in other towns in the uk . 1970s edit kitchen products were introduced in 1970 and soon after a new factory in darlington was established to manufacture joinery and kitchen furniture . in 1975 magnet became britain s largest manufacturer of joinery products with 115 branches . in 1975 magnet merges with timber group southern evans to form magnet & southerns . the combined business following the merger exceeded 200 branches . 1980s edit magnet logo from the 1980s in 1984 magnet & southerns became a founder member of the ftse 100 share index . the company continued to expand during the 1980s with new manufacturing sites in rotherham thornton penrith burnley and deeside opened together with the acquisition of the thomas easthams kitchen business . seeing the growth of the burgeoning diy sector the company decided to move into the retail kitchen market and opened its first retail kitchen showrooms in 1985 . 1 in 1988 magnet sold the southern evans timber business in preparation for a 629m management buy out which took place the following year . 2 soon after difficulties in the uk economy led to a severe downturn in the housing market and a significant downturn in sales . magnet unable to pay its bankers fought to remain cash positive to survive . in 1989 tom duxbury led a management buyout of the business . 3 the buyout failed quite quickly and the banks took control of the business . 3 1990s edit magnet logo from the 1990s in 1990 separate retail and trade divisions were established to maximize customer service for these very different market sectors . factories in easthams thornton disambiguation needed burnley deeside gillingham and lincoln were closed with work transferred to darlington and keighley . in 1994 berisford acquired the company 4 and planned to re establish magnet as the number one kitchen and joinery company in the uk . the company s financial performance stabilized but a lack of investment and a long running industrial dispute 5 meant that the company did not see any significant growth . 2000s edit in 2001 magnet was acquired by nobia a swedish based kitchen company for 134m . 3 significant investments were made in the company with a multimillion pound showroom refurbishment programme 6 and the introduction of the trade concept an initiative to grow the company s market share in the trade channel . to support the increased demand for magnet products further investment was made in the darlington site converting the manufacturing operation into a modern assemble to order facility . 7 operations edit magnet edit current magnet retail logo magnet retail branch in aylesbury buckinghamshire magnet supplies kitchens to retail consumers via 170 showrooms . the company primarily targets the middle market and offers a wide variety of kitchen designs together with a comprehensive range of worktops sinks and taps electrical appliances and kitchen accessories . other services offered include a home survey free cad planning expert installation and a post installation visit . the company s full circle service process guides customers throughout the kitchen buying process from design through to installation . in 2003 magnet s retail showroom concept won best uk retail interior by retail interiors magazine and has subsequently refurbished the majority of its estate in line with this footprint . magnet was the first national kitchen retailer to achieve trustmark accreditation a scheme designed to drive out the cowboys in the home improvement sector . 8 trustmark provides customers with a two year guarantee on installation and payment protection . magnet trade edit current magnet trade logo magnet trade branch in welwyn garden city hertfordshire magnet trade sells only to registered trade customers through its network of 159 branches . the majority of customers are local tradesmen such as joiners builders and kitchen fitters . magnet trade also supplies organizations in the rsl sector such as local authorities and housing associations . alongside a comprehensive kitchen offering cabinets appliances worktops sinks & taps the company supplies a wide variety of joinery doors windows timber wood flooring hardware . products are supplied from stock held on site in the branch warehouse . free kitchen planning made to measure timber window ordering and local delivery services are also offered . magnet trade has a separate in store environment and brand identity in order to clearly differentiate it from the retail business . mixed sites edit magnet mixed site in staples corner london magnet mixed site in guiseley west yorkshire the majority of magnet branches have both a trade and retail presence in the same building . there are separate entrances for each different customer group which are clearly designated . see also edit companies portal nobia references edit tempus magnet & southerns . the times . 1986 01 16 magnet buyout bid of 1.07 billion . the new york times . 1989 03 30 . retrieved 2008 11 08 . a b c aldrick philip 2001 04 24 . enodis shakes off poison pill magnet for 134m . london daily telegraph . retrieved 2009 06 29 . berisford international plc acquires magnet ltd water meadow hldg from magnet group plc alacrastore 3 march 1994 britain s longest running dispute over . bbc news . 1998 04 24 . retrieved 2008 11 08 . nobia increases investments in magnet s store network . nobia . retrieved 2008 11 08 . complete kitchens made to measure in a couple of hours . the northern echo . retrieved 2008 11 08 . osborne hilary 2006 01 30 . traders sign up to voluntary code of practice . london the guardian . retrieved 2008 11 08 . external links edit magnet retail magnet trade retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title magnet kitchens & oldid 726548068 categories kitchen manufacturersfurniture retailers of the united kingdomcompanies established in 1918companies based in county durhambritish brandshidden categories all articles with links needing disambiguationarticles with links needing disambiguation from january 2014 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout 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