When Simon and Bobby Arora acquired B&M’s 21 stores in 2004 for £525k, it was a loss-making business. But with B&M, the brothers had found the perfect tool to pan for gold in their own hard-won supplier network. Together, they transformed the struggling brand using Asian import supply chains built from a previous business, opening stores across the UK and buying up huge inventories at prices that rival chains and distributors couldn’t match.

Over 22 years, those 21 stores have grown to 799 in the UK and over 32,000 employees, while an expansion into France has boosted the group’s portfolio. In 2014, B&M also went public, listing on the London Stock Exchange before making it to the FTSE 250 one year later.

Challenging market conditions have hit retail hard. The group’s parent company reported a near 50 per cent fall in annual profit in FY26. But the launch of a turnaround plan, Back to B&M Basics in October 2025 has shown early signs of restoring like-for-like sales growth at B&M UK. FY26 figures show that the group beat expectations, boosting confidence and causing an upswing in share price.

Simon Arora stepped down as CEO in 2022, while Bobby retired in 2025. A third brother, Robin, has stayed on as a director. Their story is often filed under the "classic immigrant tale" – two second-generation brothers who built a multi-billion-pound retailer from 21 loss-making shops. Classic, maybe. Repeatable? Not easily.