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19 Jun 2025
A new Chief Executive Officer has been appointed at NMBS, the leading buying society for independent building, plumbing and heating, hardware, tools, timber, roofing, engineering and industrial merchants.
Kevin Williams will join NMBS on 1 August 2025. He brings more than 30 years’ experience in building materials and construction distribution, having progressed through a variety of leadership roles at Travis Perkins and most recently as Managing Director at Headlam PLC.
He will succeed Chris Hayward who became CEO of NMBS in 2022, following more than 20 years as managing director and more than 47 years’ service in total at NMBS. Chris Hayward will officially step away from NMBS early next year, allowing a smooth transition process through the rest of 2025.
Kevin Williams says:
“Obviously I’ve known of NMBS and its reputation for many years. NMBS is an incredible organisation, both providing security and stability in an often-fluctuating market and driving innovative new thinking in the builders’ merchants sector on digitalisation, efficiency, good employment practices, apprenticeships and ESG best practice.
“Given the recent commitments in the Government’s Spending Review and green shoots of recovery now starting to appear across the construction sector, I’m honoured and excited to be joining NMBS at a pivotal time for future growth.
“I am really looking forward to refreshing and building new connections and relationships across the whole NMBS membership, while enjoying a full handover process from Chris and working alongside the great team at NMBS to continue its positive impact and commercial success.”
Jeremy Miller, non-executive chairman at NMBS, commented:
“Kevin was a standout choice for the CEO role in an extraordinarily strong pool of candidates, with broad operational, commercial and leadership expertise across many different parts of the merchanting sector. The board is delighted to be welcoming Kevin into NMBS, and from August we will begin a seamless transition for NMBS employees, suppliers and members.”
Kevin Williams began his career as a management trainee at Travis Perkins in 1994, moving through branch management and regional leadership roles, and later held senior operational and commercial roles across the plumbing and heating division, Plumbing Trade Supplies, City Plumbing Supplies and Group Spares.
In 2022, Kevin joined Headlam PLC as managing director to create and lead a new nationwide branch-based flooring trade counter business. Drawing on his many years of merchanting experience, he successfully introduced a strong culture of customer-first thinking into the flooring sector, establishing a national network of 85 branches and building a differentiated value proposition focused on service and repeat business.
NMBS is the largest buying society in the UK for independent merchants, with an annual turnover of £2.2bn. It offers its members exclusive discounts and rebates from more than 500 suppliers, while giving suppliers access to over 1,350 merchants across more than 5,000 branches.