The business was founded by Malcolm Billington and Brian Mayman: the first store opened in
Cleveleys, England, in 1978. It was originally named
Billington & Mayman, based on the founders' names, but was soon shortened to "B&M". The company was the subject of a
management buyout, financed by Phildrew Investments, in October 1996. It was acquired by
Simon and
Bobby Arora from Phildrew Investments in December 2004. In September 2006, the business saw significant growth, by acquiring the GlynWebb chain of
Do It Yourself (DIY) stores and converting them into the B&M Home Store format. The company also acquired a number of former
Kwik Save,
Woolworths, and Au-Naturale stores. The business moved into a new office and modern
distribution centre based in
Speke,
Liverpool in 2010. In May 2011, B&M also purchased a number of
Focus DIY stores. In December 2012,
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, one of the world's leading
private equity funds, acquired a significant
stake in B&M, and
Sir Terry Leahy and Vindi Banga joined the
Board of Directors. In March 2014, the business acquired a majority stake in German discount retailer Jawoll and then opened a new 500,000 sq ft distribution centre in Speke, Liverpool. However, upon detailed analysis by the
Columbia Business School, it was found the
IPO of B&M was overhyped due to an already saturated market in the UK. In November 2014, the business opened its 400th store (in
Stockport) and claimed to serve in excess of three million customers every week. During July 2017, the company completed the acquisition of the smaller frozen food store chain
Heron Foods for £152 million. In 2018 the company started a trial of converting Heron Food branches to B&M Express. As of 31 January 2018, B&M European Value Retail S.A. had issued 1,000,561,222 ordinary shares at the opening price of 10 pence. In October 2018, the company acquired French discount retailer Babou for €91.2 million, and by the end of 2021, the Babou brand was replaced by B&M. In September 2020, the company announced that it planned to open about 45 stores, offering everything from tinned and frozen meals to wallpaper and bedding plants, which had become a lockdown phenomenon. On 4 February 2022, the company opened its 700th store at Border Retail Park in
Wrexham. In September 2022, Simon Arora stepped down as chief executive after 17 years in the role and was replaced by Alex Russo. In September 2023, it was announced B&M had acquired 51 former
Wilko stores from the
administrator for £13 million. In 2024, B&M became one of the bidders for the struggling
Homebase alongside
CDS Superstores. They later acquired some of the stores after Homebase collapsed into administration in November and opened them under B&M Home Store format. In May 2024, the company announced the appointment of Tjeerd Jegen as its new chief executive following the retirement of Alex Russo in February 2025. Jegen will start from June 2025. ==Controversy==