Regulatory News

Lords, a leading distributor of building materials in the UK, is pleased to announce that it has entered into binding agreements in respect of the purchase of the freehold property from which the Heathrow branch of the Group’s wholly owned subsidiary George Lines Civils & Landscaping Merchants operates (the ‘Property’) from the original vendor of George Lines.

The Property, which is situated close to Heathrow airport and covers an area of 1.52 acres including 5,570 square feet of covered storage, is considered by Lords to be prime industrial real estate from which the Heathrow branch of George Lines Civils & Landscaping Merchants is intending to continue to operate for the foreseeable future. The branch has been operating out of the site for more than 40 years.

Maximum consideration for the purchase of the Property is £6.26 million in cash, of which £2.2 million has been paid by the Group. The balance of the consideration is to be paid by the Group prior to 5 July 2024. Transfer of the title of the Property to the Group will occur upon completion, being the date on which the remaining consideration is paid, and the Group will continue to lease the Property until completion occurs, with any rental payments paid prior to completion deducted from the final consideration.

Commenting on the purchase, Shanker Patel, Chief Executive Officer of Lords, said: “We are pleased to have been able to secure this highly sought-after site which has exceptional logistic and trading benefits for the George Lines Brand. George Lines has been trading from this location for over 40 years and the purchase of the freehold will secure future trading from this site. The purchase also re-enforces the commitment of the Group to growing the George Lines Brand with management actively looking for new branch locations.”

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Notes to editors:

Lords is a specialist distributor of building, plumbing, heating and DIY goods.  The Group principally sells to local tradesmen, small to medium sized plumbing and heating merchants, construction companies and retails directly to the general public.

The Group operates through the following two divisions:

• Merchanting: supplies building materials and DIY goods through its network of merchant businesses and online platform capabilities.  It operates both in the 'light side' (building materials and timber) and 'heavy side' (civils and landscaping), through 30 locations in the UK.
• Plumbing and Heating: a specialist distributor in the UK of plumbing and heating products to a UK network of independent merchants, installers and the general public.  The division offers its customers an attractive proposition through a multi-channel offering.  The division operates over 16 locations enabling nationwide next day delivery service.

Lords was established over 35 years ago as a family business with its first retail unit in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire.  Since then, the Group has grown to a business operating from 46 sites.  Lords aims to become a £500 million turnover building materials distributor group by 2024 as it grows its national presence.

Lords was admitted to trading on AIM in July 2021 with the ticker LORD.L.  For additional information please visit www.lordsgrouptradingplc.co.uk.

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information pursuant to Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 as amended.  Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.