B&amp;MB&amp;M B&M B&M European Value Retail S.A., trading as B&M, formerly known as B&M Bargains, Bargain Madness and Billington & Mayman (also known as B&M Homestore) is a British-Luxembourg variety store chain founded in 1978 and incorporated in Luxembourg. It employs over 32,000 people. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History. The business was founded by Malcolm Billington as Billington & Mayman and the first store opened in Cleveleys, England, in 1978 and 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 Homestore 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, and new operations, logistics, and finance directors joined the business in 2011. 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. In June 2014, the business was the subject of an initial public offering. 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 95 Babou stores in France for €91.2 million. On 4 February 2022, the company opened its 700th store at Border Retail Park in Wrexham. Operations. Up to 30% of B&M's stock is sourced  and purchased directly from China, though the retailer believes it can offset the higher import costs by increased sales volumes. Less than 10% of their products are sold for £1, giving them an advantage over single-priced competitors such as Poundland. Since September 2012, some stores have also been selling National Lottery goods. Corporate affairs. Store expansion. As of 2021, the company currently has 686 stores in the UK and a further 275 Heron Foods stores. It runs 104 stores in France under the B&M brand. Over the period 2016 to 2018, the company opened another 100 stores as  it reached 600 stores in November 2018. 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 has become a lockdown phenomenon. Financial performance. The financial performance has been as follows: Controversy. Fire safety. In 2012, B&M pleaded guilty at Mansfield Magistrates Court to six fire safety offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 following a visit from Fire Protection officers of the Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service to their Mansfield store in October 2011. Officers had previously visited in June  2011 and found numerous breaches of the order, including blocked fire exits. However, the failings were found to have been repeated in the revisit and the firm was fined £32,984.17. Underage knife sales. In 2018, B&M was fined a record £480,000 by Barkingside Magistrates’ Court for selling knives to three children under the age of 18 in test purchases at stores in Redbridge and Barking. The fine was reduced from £720,000 as the business pleaded guilty. COVID-19 rates relief. In March 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, then Chancellor  of the Exchequer, gave business rates relief and furlough payments to businesses in the hospitality and retail sectors. B&M was among several businesses classified as 'essential retailers' and as a result was allowed to remain open when other 'non-essential businesses had to close. In November 2020, B&M and other retailers were subject to a public outcry for having not handed back payments totalling £1.8 billion intended for propping up retailers prevented from trading due to restrictions, despite making record profits. The retailer declared £296m in profit and as a result issued a £250m special  dividend despite having received £38m in business rates relief and £3.7m in furlough payments. Brothers Simon and Bobby Arora, the CEO and trading director respectively, received a combined total of £37m of the special dividend due to their 15% shareholding which is said to worth at least £750m. The firm agreed to pay £80m in business rate relief it had saved, a move mirrored by major supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons. B&M B&M European Value Retail S.A., trading as B&M, formerly known as B&M Bargains, Bargain Madness and