The wholesale and cash and carry operator has announced a change of status, as it prepares for future growth. The Stax business has been re-registered as a Private Limited Company and will now be known as Stax Trade Centres Ltd.

“This is a significant move for the company as it frees the business from some of the constraints that came with our previous status as a Public Limited Company,” said joint managing director David Hibbert. “The PLC status has been appropriate for us over the past 22 years, but the company has grown consistently to the point where it is now time for a change that will provide us with the freedom we need to continue that growth. We have ambitious plans to grow the business and we need to ensure that we have the correct framework in place to implement those plans.”

The move follows news that Stax has acquired the Groundsman brand from LG Harris in a bid to strengthen its own-brand offer.

Mr Hibbert is quick to reassure customers that the change to the company’s status will not adversely affect the relationships they have with Stax. “In fact the opposite will be true, as the change is good news for our customers,” he said. “It will provide us with far greater flexibility and enable us to have more direct control over the ways in which we respond to their needs.

“We’ll be able to respond more rapidly to our customers, and to concentrate more closely on improving the levels of service and support they’ve come to expect from us. Although our company number will not change, there will be a reduction in both the regulatory requirements that apply to the business and the associated costs, and that will allow us to ensure that our pricing remains extremely competitive,” he concludes.

As a Private Limited Company, Stax will have limited liability, so that the financial liability of shareholders is limited to their shares; it will no longer be obligated to reveal financial results at any time to the public. It will also no longer have to adhere to certain rules around corporate governance, providing it with more flexibility and freedom over how its governance is structured, and could also benefit from certain tax breaks.

Stax has been trading for more than 35 years and currently supplies 50,000 businesses right across the UK on a cash & carry wholesale basis. Its six UK depots carryover 45,000 product lines, including tools and hardware, gardening, building and joinery, DIY, electrical & lighting, plumbing and heating, kitchens, bathrooms, decorating and homewares.