Robert Dyas – DIY Homewares Electricals

Established in London in 1872 by Irish migrant Robert Dyas. He arrived in London with a £5 inheritance ready to invest into an ironmongery store. A man of character he set about creating a store that gave customers the highest quality products he could source. This all came with first class customer service from staff that gave knowledgable advice. In the subsequent years Robert Dyas grew into a strong family business with shops all over the South East mainly in London. Following his death at aged 66 in 1911 the family and especially his sons were left with a successful and prosperous chain of 18 ironmongery stores. Despite setbacks like the Wall Street Crash and the 1st and 2nd world wars when the Robert Dyas warehouse and offices were bombed during the Blitz. The sons and grandsons ran the Robert Dyas stores successfully for many years. In 2001 there was a management buyout for £8m led by the then chairman Roger Pedder and chief executive Brent Wilkinson. The family of eponymous founder Robert Dyas still kept 45% equity while the rest was shared between the buyout team and a Finnish venture fund backer. Robert Dyas was acquired by a private equity firm (Change Capital Partners) in 2004 for £61M. This did not work out too well for them in the long run with control going to the banks Lloyds and Allied Irish who owned the debt. Theo Paphitis the retail entrepreneur who owns Boux Avenue lingerie and other retail stores becomes the owner of Robert Dyas in 2012. The deal was reportedly worth around the princely sum of £10m. He is well known for starring in the Dragons Den TV show. Theo as always admired the brand and looks to make big investments into new shops and store refurbishments.