Toolstation founder sells out for £24m

Travis bought 30 per cent of the business for £18m in 2008 and yesterday bought the rest of it, taking the total paid so far to £42m with further payments possible over the next two years if it hits targets.

Toolstation, based in Bridgwater, Somerset, was set up in 2003 by Mark Goddard-Watts, the founder of rival tool supply firm Screwfix, which he left after a takeover by B&Q owner Kingfisher.

Travis, the UK’s largest builders’ merchant and home improvement retailer, said Toolstation, which has 103 outlets and a strong internet and catalogue-based sales business, will be a “significant profit generator”.

Travis chief executive Geoff Cooper said the acquisition was expected to boost Northampton-based Travis’s consumer division, which also includes some 200 Wickes DIY stores and 107 Tile Giant stores. It is Travis’s second recent acquisition. It bought 13 former Focus DIY stores.