Lawsons celebrates Fair Tax week as first gold standard builders merchant

Lawsons celebrates Fair Tax week as first gold standard builders merchant

UK-based Lawsons Group are marking their first Fair Tax week (8^th to 15^th June 2025) having been the first ever building materials merchant to be awarded the Fair Tax Mark, the gold standard of responsible tax conduct, earlier in 2025.

Fair Tax Week 2025 (8–15 June 2025) is an opportunity for businesses to step forward and say what they pay with pride, and UK councils to declare their support for the economic contribution this makes locally.  

Over the last decade the success of Lawsons has contributed £14.9m of Corporation Tax payments, £18.9m of employers national insurance and £62.5m of VAT.

Established in 1921, Lawsons has a rich history as a family business, expanding their product range. Over the last decade since 2015, Lawsons has more than doubled from a seventeen-branch network with revenue of £76m with 370 employees to a thirty-five branch network of £165m with 700 employees, transforming into the largest independent timber, building materials and fencing merchant in London and the southeast of England.   

Despite recent operating and financial headwinds for other participants in the sector, Lawsons has remained profitable during 2024 and 2025 and announced in November 2024 up to £25m of new facilities which the Group is actively using to continue its journey of both organic growth and strategic acquisition.  

For the duration of Fair Tax week, Lawsons is offering customer 5% off online purchases via its website – activate by clicking the Fair Tax week logo on www.lawsons.co.uk .

Chris Harrison, Group Finance Director at Lawsons, said:

“As a significant player in the builders merchant sector, which is a key sector for the UK economy, it is only right that we should publicly demonstrate our approach to paying our fair share of tax in full and at the right time.

We were delighted to be the first builders’ merchant to be recognised in this space which is important given the corporation tax, employment tax and VAT contributions the sector makes to the Treasury.  We have a culture of transparency across our entire business, whether in our dealings with customers, suppliers or our people.”

Tax funds the huge array of public services from education, health and social care, to flood defence, roads, policing and defence. We are active in the communities we serve and see all of those much-needed public services in action.

It is another way at Lawsons we demonstrate our community values and best practices. We also believe that this inspires confidence and trust in our goods and services and I would not be surprised to see this accreditation becoming a mandatory requirement for all public construction contracts in the coming years given that funding decisions for those contracts are funded wholly or partially by UK tax revenues.”

Enquiries                                                                               01727 226660

• Chris Harrison, Group Finance Director
• Ciaran Morton, Group Marketing Director

Notes to Editors

Established in 1921, the Lawsons Group is now the largest independent Timber, Building Materials & Fencing merchant in London and the South East, with branches located from Lincolnshire to the South Coast. The Group includes 19 Lawsons branches, 12 branches of AVS Fencing & Landscaping Supplies, in addition to Basingstoke Building Supplies, Briants of Risborough, The Landscape Centre, Oxford Fencing Supplies and Witham Timber.

The Fair Tax Week is is an opportunity for businesses to step forward and say what they pay with pride, and UK councils to declare their support for the economic contribution this makes locally.  The week also serves as a platform for others to share their thoughts, and an opportunity to explore the latest data on UK public attitudes to corporate tax conduct.