Charlie Mullins on Pimlico Plumbers float
According to reports in City AM today, Britain’s biggest independent plumbing company – Pimlico Plumbers – is considering a flotation, which would value the firm at £50m. But founder Charlie Mullins tells us he has some hesitations.
Charlie Mullins
Charlie Mullins
“I've been seriously considering selling shares in Pimlico Plumbers for the past couple of months," says Mullins. "After a television appearance on CNBC, I was approached by a professional stockbroker who suggested I consider floating the company on the stock exchange," he says.
“Obviously it would provide a lot of valuable investment capital to grow my operation. But there are other considerations related to going public that need to be seriously looked into – the main one, to my mind, being my ability to retain control of the direction Pimlico Plumbers takes, and retaining a direct relationship with our customers. This company has grown becuase of its ability to react to customer demand, and that cannot be allowed to change."
He adds: “Let me be quite clear, I have no interest in losing control of the company that I have built up with more than 30 years of hard work, and, if shares were to become publically available, I intend to keep hold of a controlling interest.“
Watch this space...