Marshalls’ road to wealth is paved by pensioners 'a they have more money to spend'

OLDER homeowners raiding the pension pot for a new driveway has been a boon to paving firm Marshalls, boss Martyn Coffey said today.

The FTSE 250 firm’s domestic arm accounts for a third of sales but drove growth, with sales up 12% on last year. Under new pension freedom rules, more customers raiding their pots in the mid-fifties and splashing out up to £9000 on their homes. “The older generation have access to pension retirement money and they have a bit a more money to spend. It is a big factor,” said Coffey.

Commercial sales — where Marshalls is paving London’s Crossrail stations — were slower, up 2%. But the strong domestic performance meant overall sales rose 8% to £430.2 million, and pre-tax profits were up 13% at £52.1 million. The firm also paid an extra dividend for the third year running.