Charlie Mullins’ son takes over as Pimlico Plumbers boss stands down
- Charlie Mullins, 67, has taken a new role as chairman
- His son Scott, 48, has stepped up to chief executive
- The family-owned firm has also rebranded from ‘Pimlico Plumbers’ to ‘Pimlico’
Charlie Mullins has stepped down from running Pimlico Plumbers and put his son in charge after building it into a £100million company.
Mullins is regarded as Britain’s richest plumber, having made a £70million fortune from a firm that unblocks pipes for London homes including those of celebrity clients such as Keira Knightley, Daniel Craig and Dame Helen Mirren.
Now, 41 years after founding the business, the 67-year-old has taken a new role as chairman, with son Scott, 48, stepping up to chief executive.
Charlie Mullins has stepped down from running Pimlico Plumbers
The family-owned firm has also rebranded from ‘Pimlico Plumbers’ to ‘Pimlico’ as it branches out into other trades such as carpentry, air conditioning and commercial heating services – necessitating a respray of the company’s fleet of 300 blue vans.
The one-time Tory donor and anti-Brexit campaigner received a £3.7million dividend for his final year in charge after the company made pre-tax profits of £4.7million, up 7 per cent on the year before, on revenues of £44.8million.
Pimlico plans to double its number of apprentices over the next 12 months from 70 to 140. They can expect a £40,000 starting salary once qualified.
However, Scott Mullins said Pimlico is struggling to attract ‘quality’ recruits due to a ‘serious skills shortage’.
He added: ‘The Government and schools have to start helping businesses offer apprenticeships and promoting to youngsters that there’s more than university, otherwise we are really going to have a problem.’