User:XyZAn/sandbox/Edmundson Electrical

Edmundson Electrical is a privately held electrical distribution company headquartered in Knutsford, Cheshire, incorporated in 1991. It is the largest electrical distributor in the United Kingdom and serves both to the trade and to the public. The company also serves Ireland through a subsidiary, EWL Electric Ltd. Through a number of holding companies it is directly controlled by the Delaware registered Blackfriars Corporation (now Marshire Holdings Corporation) - controlled in turn by the Colburn family as part of their global electrical company network.

The company also holds a Royal Warrant.

History
The company was founded in the early 19th century by Joshua Edmundson, with the company developing into one of the first suppliers of electricity to being a leading distributor of electrical equipment. The company serves the UK through more than 320 branches, supplying a range of quality electrical items.

The company has achieved growth through usual organic means, as well as through acquisitions. The largest of these came in 2011, when the company acquired Electric Centre from Wolseley plc for in the region of £30 to £40m. This added a further 90 branches to the existing Edmundson network of 250 branches, giving it significant control over the market. The deal was cleared by the Office of Fair Trading in 2012 after the company agreed to sell a number of branches to Abbey Cross Trading Ltd. Prior to being acquired, Electric Centre achieved sales of £130m earning profits of £1.5m.

The company has also expanded through a number of smaller acquisitions, such as: Cable Management Centre (2008), Western Electrical (2014), Lockwell Electrical (2015)

Ownership
The company is controlled by Marshire Holdings Corporation, a Delaware based holding company run by the Colburn family. Most notably, the Keith W. Colburn who is CEO of Consolidated Electrical Distributors, which in 2010 was the fifth largest private company by revenue ($3.4 billion in 2009, $3.9 billion in 2008). Through a number of companies the Colburn family own a global network of manufacturers, distributors and general purpose retail outlets.