Background: At the helm of Grafton Group

After more than 30 years at the helm of builders merchanting and DIY company Grafton Group, Michael Chadwick is stepping down.

Mr Chadwick studied at Trinity College Dublin before joining Grafton in 1975. Back then the company was called CPI Holdings and it had had two operating units: concrete products based in Lucan, and a network of Chadwicks builders’ providers branches around the country.

Four years later he was appointed to the Board and in 1985 he became executive chairman. At the time, the company had a turnover of €60 million a year. By 2007 – the height of the boom - revenue had hit a record €3.2 billion.

Mr Chadwick took Grafton into the UK in the 1990s and it now accounts for the majority of group turnover, which is €2 billion-plus annually.

In 2011, Mr Chadwick stepped back from his day-to-day involvement in the company, becoming non-executive chairman.He completed 150 acquisitions in his years at the helm of the company.

Grafton has made Mr Chadwick millions but he could never be accused of milking the company for personal gain.

In the early noughties, there were years when he waived the vast bulk of his remuneration, making do with a handsome dividend cheque as one of the company’s biggest shareholders.

Mr Chadwick is an investor in Irish-founded recruitment website Jobbio. An avid sailor, he is also a co-owner of the Dun Laoghaire Marina.