STARK Group is one of the largest retailers and distributors of building materials for the professional segment in Europe with approx. 18,500 employees and 1,050 branches and distribution centres. Headquartered at Frederiksberg, Denmark, STARK Group owns and operates six builders’ merchant chains, STARK Building Materials UK, with Jewson as the most significant brand, in the United Kingdom. , STARK Deutschland GmbH in Germany and Austria, STARK Danmark in Denmark and Greenland, Beijer Byggmaterial AB in Sweden, STARK Suomi Oy in Finland, and Neumann Bygg A/S in Norway.
History
STARK Group was founded in 1896, under the name Århus Trælasthandel A/S. Following an expansion of the company, organizationally as well as geographically, the group was, in 1918, listed on the stock exchange 1918 and changed its name to Det Danske Trælastkompagni. In 1968, the group established the first DIY market, Silvan, for the do-it-yourself consumer, which became the group's first subsidiary.
In 1989, the group expanded geographically by acquiring the Swedish builders’ merchant Beijer Byggmaterial AB, which became the group's second subsidiary. Seven years later – in 1996 – the group expanded into the Norwegian market as it acquired the Norwegian builders' merchant Neumann Bygg, and in July 2000, the Finnish-based Starkki became a new member of the group. By 2004, Danske Trælast was the parent company of a huge group that, besides the four Nordic subsidiaries, was responsible for 75 timber yards in Denmark. These were gathered under the name STARK, which became the fifth subsidiary. In 2006, the group changed its name to DT Group A/S and was sold to the English firm Ferguson.
As of 2017, the first subsidiary, Silvan, was sold to a German private equity fund.