Name: Philip Nicholls Position: Group Director   Profile: Philip Nicholls started his career at Travis & Arnold (now Travis Perkins) in 1969 as a sales executive. During his three years with the company Philip worked in various departments throughout the business from kitchen & bathroom sales to heavyside merchanting.

In 1972, Philip was approached by brother Andrew to launch a John Nicholls Plumbing & Heating branch in Cherwell Street, Banbury as a separate business entity to the Builder Merchant run by their father.

Within four years Philip and his brother Andrew had built up the business so successfully that they had outgrown the Cherwell Street premises

In 1976 it was decided to consolidate both family businesses and so a purpose built warehouse was commissioned to house the ever-expanding Plumbing & Heating business next to the Builders Merchant at the Overthorpe Road site.

Over the following twenty years Philip and Andrew built the business steadily through investment and expansion of the Overthorpe Road site to a 2.5-acre multi-disciplined merchanting business.

In November 1998 further expansion of the business came in the form of a new plumbing & heating branch at Bicester, followed by another new branch at Rubgy in January 2002 and a further new plumbing & heating branch and trade showroom at Witney in May 2002.

In August 2002, the Banbury plumbing and heating branch moved to a dedicated site at Banbury Trading Park at Dorcas Road. The most recent and ambitious growth has been the introduction of two new sites at Stratford-upon-Avon, which include a plumbing and heating branch, a building, timber and landscaping branch and an extensive luxury bathroom showroom, all located just off the Birmingham Road on the Avenue Industrial Estate and Swan Trade Park.

With the redevelopment and rebranding of the Kitchen & Bathroom Showroom, Philip and Andrew Nicholls remain at the forefront of the business and are relentless in their ambition to drive the business forward.