Chadwicks Group has opened its first Northern Ireland branch at Ravenshill Business Park, Belfast, combining its The Panelling Centre joinery brand and Sitetech civil engineering products brand under one roof, a move that matters to building and architecture professionals because a combined interiors-and-civils outlet in Belfast could reduce multi-supplier logistics for project teams on smaller construction schemes.

Chadwicks Group is Ireland's leading builders' merchant, trading from more than 60 locations under the Chadwicks, The Panelling Centre, Sitetech, Heiton Steel and other brands, and is a subsidiary of London-listed Grafton Group plc.

The new branch will employ eight staff and is led by branch manager Amanda Bothwell, who brings 20 years of industry experience, including 11 years with Homebase and nine with Doorways.

Grafton Group already operates in Northern Ireland through its separate MacBlair distribution business, meaning the group now runs two distinct merchanting brands in the Belfast market.

The structural driver is Grafton Group's steady tightening of its grip on the Irish and UK building materials supply chain, most visibly through its March 2026 acquisition of Cork-based timber frame manufacturer Cygnum, which the group has folded into Chadwicks to support faster new-home delivery.

For the sector, the timing matters because this Belfast opening extends that consolidation strategy into Northern Ireland, positioning Chadwicks close to a dense cluster of civil and housing contractors for just-in-time deliveries on regional infrastructure and residential schemes.

Running two distinct merchanting brands, MacBlair and now Chadwicks, in the same Belfast market allows Grafton to serve different customer segments without diluting either brand's existing trade relationships, a multi-brand approach the group has already applied successfully across its Irish portfolio.

The broader implication for the sector is that large building materials groups are increasingly bundling specialist joinery and civils supply into single branches rather than separate outlets, a format likely to spread to other regional UK and Irish markets where trade customers currently juggle multiple suppliers.

Source: The Construction Index / Grafton Group / Irish Times