Ferguson Enterprises


Ferguson, LLC, headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, United States, is the largest U.S distributor of plumbing supplies, PVF, waterworks and fire and fabrication products. It is also a major distributor of HVAC equipment and industrial products and services. It ended the 2019 fiscal year with sales of $18.4 billion. This is an increase of 12.2 percent from the previous fiscal year.

History

Ferguson was founded in 1953. The company started with two locations: Lenz Supply and Smither Supply. Expansion continued throughout the Southeast and Ferguson established its headquarters in Newport News, Va.
By 1982 Ferguson began to double in size every five years and had locations in 11 states. Wolseley plc then acquired Ferguson. In 1989, Ferguson integrated with West Coast wholesale suppliers Familian and Familian Northwest.
In the late 2000s, Ferguson’s growth began to slow as the recession hit traditional construction markets. In response to the market change, Ferguson shifted the business focus on efficiency.
Wolseley plc changed its name to Ferguson plc in 2017.
Ferguson Enterprises accounts for 90 percent of Ferguson plc’s trading profit and is traded on the London Stock Exchange.
In 2019, the Board of Ferguson announced an intention to demerge their UK operations so that Wolseley UK and Ferguson could focus on serving their respective customers. In the same year, activist fund Trian Fund Management LP became an investor of Ferguson Plc with a 6% stake.

Ferguson Today

Ferguson’s 2019 growth trended on an upward trajectory. The company ended the 2019 fiscal year with sales of $18.4 billion, and reported a growth of 6.2 percent on an organic basis. An additional 4.2 percent of growth came from acquisitions. Ferguson employs over 27,000 associates.

Leadership

Kevin Murphy was appointed CEO in 2017. Alex Hutcherson is COO and Bill Brundage is CFO.

Acquisitions

Acquisitions are a part of Ferguson’s business model.
] In the 2019 and 2020 fiscal years, Ferguson announced the following acquisitions:
Ferguson has a philanthropic division known as Ferguson Cares. Ferguson is also a National Partner with Homes for Our Troops and SkillsUSA, DIGDEEP the mikeroweWORKS Foundation and IWSH Ferguson also reports efforts to support women in the skilled trades. The company won the Darden Award for Regional Leadership in 2018.