Magnet Kitchens

Magnet Group

The current logo (2004)
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 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 ' The Nobia division also includes brands such as Gower, Hygena and Norema.

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.

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.

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.

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. In 1988 Magnet sold the Southern-Evans timber business in preparation for a £629m management buy out which took place the following year. 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. The buyout failed quite quickly and the banks took control of the business.