Useful Background on Wolseley

WOLSELEY IS NOW IN 27 COUNTRIES WORLDWIDE.

Wolseley has around 79,000 employees operating in 27 countries. They are the UK, USA, France, Canada, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Slovak Republic, Poland, Romania, Croatia, San Marino, Panama, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago, Mexico and Barbados.

WOLSELEY IN A NUTSHELL?

Wolseley plc is the world's largest specialist trade distributor of plumbing and heating products to professional contractors and a leading supplier of building materials in North America, the UK and Continental Europe. Group revenues for the year ended 31 July 2007 was approximately £16 billion. Wolseley has around 79,000 employees operating in 27 countries.  Wolseley is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: WOS, ) and is in the FTSE 100 index of listed companies.

WOLSELEY HAS OUT-PERFORMED...

.. the Financial Times Share Index of 100 top companies consistently over the last ten years.

WHAT IS THE EGP?

The European Graduate Programme is a two-year European programme with one foot firmly in the UK and the other in Europe

TRAINING PLACES DOUBLED IN 2007

In 2007 we doubled the number of places available on our Wolseley management and leadership programmes in the USA , Switzerland  and England .

THE BIG LEAGUE IS NO LONGER A PIPE DREAM

In North America, Ferguson's two main pipe depots now boast a combined footprint equivalent to 28 professional football fields.

OUR WELL-KNOWN CUSTOMERS....

... include British Gas, General Electric, General Motors, Johnson and Johnson, Persimmon, and Taylor Woodrow.

OPEN IN AS MANY COUNTRIES AS WAL-MART.

Over the last 15 years, Wolseley has expanded into 12 new national markets in addition to our original strongholds in the US and UK. It all adds up to the same global reach as Wal-Mart.

MORE THAN 1800 WOLSELEY BRANCHES IN THE UK

In the UK, there are more than 1800 Wolseley outlets for the professional contractor, trading under our familiar brand names like Plumb Center, Parts Center and Build Center. And the Wolseley group now has more than 5,000 retail branches in all, in 27 countries across North America and Europe.

MAKING INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS.

Last year, Ferguson opened a series of XpressNet stores across the USA. This customer-friendly format was based on a concept originally developed by Wolseley in France.