The 'magic dust' of Hull's MKM Building Supplies as it celebrates 30 years

FOUNDER DAVID KILBURN ON MKM'S INCREDIBLE JOURNEY TO BECOMING A £1BN TURNOVER BUSINESS

- By TOM KEIGHLEY

NEVER did David Kilburn think the business he set up with good friend Peter Murray in the autumn of 1995, in the wake of redundancy, would go on to reach £1bn turnover.

"We just wanted to make ourselves a living, and we were ambitious because we wanted to be the best in the area but we didn't have a vision to become a multi-site business," the 80 year-old told Hull Live.

In those early days, David, then 50, and the small team he had assembled would ring a fire alarm in their Hull warehouse to celebrate a sale. That practice would quickly have to be retired amid the sheer volume of sales flowing in.

MKM Building Supplies now boasts more than 130 branches and employs more than 3,000. Its name adorns Hull City's 25,500-capacity stadium and the firm is majority owned by global, $185bn investors Bain Capital. And last year David was given a CBE for his services to the construction industry and charitable work.

"In my case, it was 'I needed a job' and in Pete's case it was a new dawn, a new opportunity," explained David. "In many ways Pete was taking a bigger risk than me - he is 10 years younger than me - and he was in his prime at 40."

Running a business was not alien to David, who had launched a Scarborough site some 10 years earlier. It was acquired by Harcros - the builders' merchant firm that would later make him redundant.

MKM started life in a small warehouse on Clough Road - not far from where the business' central office is now located. Five people made up the initial team, including Andy Beet, Richard Taylor and Janet Taylor - who later became Peter's wife.

With a small amount of money from a handful of friends, the business scooped up orders thanks to David and Peter's connections in the area. But the team had to rent a truck to make deliveries.