Redundancy is a stressful experience for anybody but when it happens to you at the age of 50, youāre faced with an especially difficult decision: it this the end of your career? Can you afford to retire? If not, are you still employable?
When this happened to David Kilburn in October 1995, he chose a third option: he started his own business.
Kilburn, who had just lost his job as commercial director at Grimby-based Harcros Timber & Building Supplies, had once had his own merchant business in Scarborough. āSo I thought, why not again?ā he recalls.
Meanwhile Peter Murray, manager of a branch in Hull, had survived the Harcros restructuring. But when Kilburn asked him if he fancied running his own business, Murray leaped at the idea.
The two colleagues set up their new business, Murray Kilburn Merchants ā now universally known as MKM Building Supplies ā in a rented 5,000 sq ft shed on Stoneferry Road, Hull.
This article was first published in the November 2025 issue of Ā鶹APP Magazine. Sign up online.
According to Kilburn, the early days proved difficult: banks refused loans; competitors told suppliers the business wouldnāt last three months. But what the two partners did possess was that quality now considered a prerequisite for any business leader: āpassionā.
āWhen youāre trying to sell a vision that doesnāt exist yet, passion is your only real currency,ā says Kilburn.
Thankfully, one supplier made a leap of faith and offered MKM six monthsā credit. Kilburn says that ātrust, loyalty and relationships quickly became the bedrock of the new businessā.
In 1996 Kilburn made a decision that would have a major influence on the evolution of the business. Geoff Ullyott, a former colleague of Kilburnās, asked if he could set up a second branch of the business in Driffield. Kilburn liked the idea and, to give Ullyott an incentive to make it work, offered him a 25% stake in the branch.
It worked so well that since then every new branch has been run by a branch director with a 25% stake.
āIt was like the bush telegraph,ā Kilburn says. āPeople weād worked with before were calling up, asking if they could open a branch in their home towns. People say it was the best decision I ever made, but I couldnāt have known then how much of a game-changer it would be.ā
Kilburn believes that the people running the branches ā those who know their local customers best ā should have a say in local decision-making, from building customer relationships to hiring and community initiatives.
This article was first published in the November 2025 issue of Ā鶹APP Magazine. Sign up online.
Each branch director has autonomy over stock, vehicles, credit limits and local decisions but also benefits from the support of the wider MKM network. This model has been fundamental to MKMās growth because of the belief that it attracts entrepreneurial leaders and builds a sense of ownership.
āWhen you give good people real responsibility, they donāt just run a branch ā they live for it,ā says Andy Beet, MKMās Beverley branch director. Beet, who joined MKM at just 26 years old is one of the six original MKM staff members, along with Janet Murray, Linda Kilburn, Richard Taylor and the two founders.
Thirty years on and the MKM network now numbers 135 branches and has spawned a specialist subsidiary business, Oceanair, which distributes plumbing, heating and air conditioning supplies. This yearās group turnover is expected to exceed Ā£1bn (see box, p49).
In 2006 co-founder Peter Murray sold his shares and left the business when private equity partners 3i and LDC bought into the business and embarked upon an ambitious growth strategy. Murray was temporarily lured back the following year to help develop the branch network.
Eleven years later MKM reached another milestone when 3i and LDC sold their shareholding to another venture capitalist, Bain Capital.Ā
By 2020 Kilburn was ready to take a backseat and Kate Tinsley joined the business as chief executive.
An accountant by profession, Tinsley has a strong track record in the construction materials industry, having worked with British Gypsum, Grafton Group and, latterly, brickmaker Ibstock where she was divisional managing director.
Under Tinsleyās leadership, growth has accelerated, mainly by acquisition. Over the past five years, the number of branches has almost doubled and the group has a target to reach 250 branches within the decade ā equivalent to 10 new branches every year.
This article was first published in the November 2025 issue of Ā鶹APP Magazine. Sign up online.
āWhen I joined, we had 73 branches and around Ā£470m in sales,ā says Tinsley. āThis year weāll hit Ā£1.1bn and within the next five or six years weāll be through Ā£2bn. But the truth is, the big number isnāt what excites me. What matters is being number one in every local market we serve, and giving local people the opportunity to run their business.ā
Kilburn ā who turned 80 in July ā is no longer involved in the day-to-day running of the business, although Tinsley says that he still visits every new branch to āshare MKM values with themā.
āWeāve always said everyone is welcome here. We want people to be happy coming to work in the morning,ā says Kilburn. āThat culture is my proudest achievement by far ā my lifeās work. In 2023 Kilburnās achievements were recognised in the Kingās inaugural Birthday Honours with the award of a CBE.
The following year, Tinsley herself picked up an OBE for āservices to construction and diversityā.
While Tinsley has ambitious plans for MKM, she vows allegiance to Kilburnās original business concept: āOur branch director model is our single differentiator,ā she says. āWhile Iām CEO, there is absolutely no way that would change. Itās what makes MKM special, and my role is to make sure we never lose it.ā
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