Who Owns The Range?

The Range is owned by Chris Dawson, a former market trader. Companies House records both Mr Christopher Frederick Dawson and Mrs Sarah Jane Dawson — resident in Monaco — as exercising significant influence or control over CDS (Superstores International) Limited, alongside a holding company. The controlling company changed as recently as 29 April 2026. The Range has bought the brands of two collapsed chains, Wilko and Homebase. Ownership verified 6 September 2026.

Who owns Range today?

The company is CDS (SUPERSTORES INTERNATIONAL) LIMITED (02699203), incorporated 20 March 1992 and registered in Plymouth.

The name is the first obstacle: nothing in “CDS (Superstores International)” indicates The Range, and searching Companies House for the brand returns over a thousand unrelated businesses. The initials are the founder’s — Chris Dawson Superstores.

Three active persons with significant control are recorded:

• Norton Group Holdings Limited — 75%+ of shares and votes, notified 29 April 2026
• Mr Christopher Frederick Dawson — has significant influence or control, England, since 11 May 2016
• Mrs Sarah Jane Dawson — has significant influence or control, Monaco, since 11 May 2016

Ultimate parent and corporate structure

The corporate holder changed in April 2026. The Range Home & Gardens Plc, which had been the registered controller since 28 October 2021, ceased on 29 April 2026 — the same day Norton Group Holdings Limited was notified.

One holding company replacing another on a single day is the signature of an internal reorganisation rather than a sale, as this site records at Screwfix, Toolstation and Cadbury. The Dawsons’ own entries did not change, which is the strongest indication that control did not move: had the business been sold, the individuals would have ceased too.

Both individuals hold under significant influence or control with no shareholding band — the condition used where someone directs a company without a registrable holding in their own name, typically because the shares sit in structures above. It is the same pattern this site documents at Manchester United, Leeds United and WWE.

Major shareholders or controlling persons

Chris Dawson founded the business and remains its central figure. He began as a market trader in Plymouth, selling from a stall, and built one of the largest privately held retailers in Britain without ever taking it public or selling a stake.

Sarah Dawson, his wife, is recorded under the same condition, with her country of residence given as Monaco. That is a register fact and this page draws no inference from it beyond noting that residence and control are recorded separately, and that spouses frequently appear as joint controllers — as at Hotel Chocolat’s founders and at bet365, where the register names two siblings.

There is no institutional investor, no private equity backer and no listed parent. The Range is among the largest genuinely family-controlled retailers in the country.

Official records and evidence

Every company number, date, PSC entry and condition above comes from Companies House for 02699203 and can be checked directly. The 29 April 2026 change and the 11 May 2016 notifications are filed facts.

Two limits. Neither Dawson has a shareholding band, so the register establishes that they control the company and nothing about what they own — the split between them, and any holding by family trusts, is not on the record. And the register names Norton Group Holdings Limited without disclosing that company’s own shareholders.

The Range is private, so it files accounts but publishes no valuation. Figures for the business’s worth and for the family’s wealth come from press estimates, not from filings. Companies House does not verify most filed information.

Ownership history and changes

Chris Dawson started trading in Plymouth markets in the 1970s and opened the first store in 1989.

• 1989 — the first shop opens in Sugar Mill, Plymouth.
• 20 March 1992 — CDS (Superstores International) Limited incorporated.
• 2010s — rapid expansion to more than 200 stores.
• 2023 — The Range buys the Wilko brand and website out of administration; the shops close.
• 2024 — it acquires Homebase stores and the brand after that chain’s own collapse.
• 29 April 2026 — the holding company changes.

The Range has never changed hands. What it has done is buy the remains of chains that failed — and the pattern is worth naming, because it recurs across this site. A brand can outlive the company that owned it. Wilko’s name now belongs to a Plymouth retailer while the shops are gone, exactly as Debenhams’ belongs to a Manchester fast fashion group and Dorothy Perkins’ does too.

Related companies and brands

The group owns The Range, Wilko, Homebase and Iceland Foods concessions within some Range stores — a partnership rather than ownership, and Iceland’s own ownership is covered elsewhere on this site.

It is not connected to B&M, Home Bargains, Poundland or Poundstretcher, all separately owned. Poundland’s £1 sale to Gordon Brothers is covered separately here; Home Bargains is another family-controlled discounter.

The discount and general merchandise sector is often described as one market with interchangeable players. In ownership terms it is nothing of the kind: family businesses, listed companies and distressed private equity holdings sit side by side, with no common owner between any of them.