INDEX / DIRECTORY / SCREWFIX / V-ECON

Screwfix V-ECON

ECONOMIC AUDIT UPDATED 2026-05-19
V-ECON Score 1.10 /10 E Screwfix — BDS-1000 115
V-ECON 1.10

Evidence-only forensic audit. Scoring happens downstream — see the main dossier for the composite assessment.

V-ECON Audit — Screwfix (Kingfisher plc)

Audit Phase: V-ECON Prepared: 2026-05-01 Audit Target: Screwfix, wholly-owned subsidiary of Kingfisher plc (LSE: KGF)

Supply Chain & Sourcing Relationships

Group Procurement Architecture

Screwfix operates within Kingfisher plc’s centralised “Powered by Kingfisher” group offer and sourcing strategy, which consolidates buying power across all banners — Screwfix, B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt, and Koçtaş.12 The principal legal vehicle for this centralised procurement is Kingfisher International Products Limited (KIPL), a UK-registered private limited company (Companies House number 09861549), with a registered address at 1 Paddington Square, London W2.3 KIPL’s stated principal activity is to operate as an offer and procurement company on behalf of the Kingfisher group, holding intellectual property rights for the group’s Own Exclusive Brands (OEBs) including Magnusson, Site, and No Nonsense.34 KIPL functions as the group-level importer of record for a significant share of OEB inventory sourced directly from overseas manufacturers, bypassing UK intermediary distributors.34

Confirmed Israeli Sourcing Event

The only publicly confirmed, named instance of a direct procurement relationship between Kingfisher/KIPL and an Israeli supplier in identified public evidence is drawn from an April 2020 press release, in which Kingfisher confirmed it had ordered “a further three million face masks from suppliers in China and Israel.”5 The specific Israeli supplier is not named. The press release characterises the transaction as an emergency COVID-19 PPE procurement. Whether the vendor relationship was pre-existing or created ad hoc is not stated, and the press release does not confirm whether the Israeli masks were sourced from within the Green Line or from occupied territories.5 No subsequent public statement has been identified confirming continuation or discontinuation of that supplier relationship.

Indirect Sourcing: Israeli-Headquartered OEM Suppliers

Three Israeli-headquartered manufacturers are identified in public evidence as suppliers of goods sold through Screwfix, each operating through UK-registered subsidiary entities:

Purchases made through these companies’ UK subsidiaries are legally domestic B2B transactions, not direct imports from Israel. The distinction affects importer-of-record status and customs declaration requirements, but does not alter the ultimate economic beneficiary of those purchases.

Agricultural Sourcing

Screwfix’s published product catalogue contains no fresh produce, perishable goods, or agricultural categories. No public filing, NGO report, or news source identifies any commercial relationship between Screwfix or Kingfisher plc and Israeli agricultural aggregators (Mehadrin, Hadiklaim, Galilee Export, Agrexco successors or equivalents).1424 No public evidence identified.

Seasonal Sourcing Patterns

No documented seasonal procurement pulse from Israeli suppliers — whether shipping manifests, procurement disclosures, or import database entries — has been identified for Screwfix or Kingfisher plc. No public evidence identified.

Product Origin, Labeling & Regulatory Compliance

Settlement-Origin Manufacturing: Keter Group

Who Profits Research Center documented in 2016 that Keter (then Keter Plastic) operated two manufacturing facilities in the Barkan Industrial Zone, an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank.15 Products manufactured at Barkan were exported and labelled “Made in Israel,” a practice inconsistent with UK country-of-origin labelling requirements for goods from occupied territories. A Who Profits field visit documented the Barkan facility as appearing inactive circa 2016, with no commercial trucks observed, and Keter’s cessation of West Bank manufacturing was reported as occurring approximately 2014–2016.15 The UNJPPI fact sheet on Keter (September 2024) documents the historical Barkan operations and settlement manufacturing history but does not allege active settlement production as of 2024.16 No public evidence of resumed settlement manufacturing by Keter has been identified post-2016.

Settlement-Origin Manufacturing: Palram and Kapro

No NGO report, regulatory citation, or DEFRA finding documenting settlement-origin goods labelled “Produce of Israel” for Palram or Kapro products sold through Screwfix has been identified. Palram’s own project gallery documents supply of polycarbonate sheeting to greenhouse facilities within Israel,17 but this describes an end-user application and does not constitute a labelling compliance issue for goods sold through Screwfix. No public evidence identified of settlement-origin goods reaching Screwfix via Palram or Kapro.

Country of Origin: Kapro / Magnusson Spirit Levels

Kapro Industries operates manufacturing facilities both in Kadarim, Israel, and in Suzhou, China.13 Whether units of Magnusson-branded spirit levels sold in UK Screwfix stores are manufactured in Israel or China is not disclosed in any public document identified in training data. Confirmation of country-of-origin markings requires physical inspection of product packaging. The OEM relationship itself is discussed below (Section 3).

Regulatory Enforcement Record

No DEFRA enforcement action, Trading Standards citation, or customs audit finding against Screwfix or Kingfisher plc regarding country-of-origin labelling for goods from occupied territories has been identified in training data. No public evidence identified.

Corporate Labelling Policy

Kingfisher plc’s published Modern Slavery Act statements and annual reports contain no stated policy on sourcing or labelling of goods from occupied or contested territories.42 No public evidence identified of any Screwfix or Kingfisher corporate policy addressing this matter.

Investment, Capital & Financial Exposure

Direct Foreign Direct Investment in Israel

No evidence of Kingfisher plc or Screwfix holding direct capital investments within Israel or occupied territories — including acquisitions, factories, data centres, logistics hubs, or real estate — has been identified in any annual report, filing, or news source.218 No public evidence identified.

R&D and Technology Partnerships

No evidence of Kingfisher plc or Screwfix operating R&D facilities, technology partnerships, innovation labs, or accelerator programmes within Israel has been identified.2 The assertion that Kingfisher’s cybersecurity or fraud prevention measures likely involve Israeli technology is speculative and unsupported by any named contract or filing. No public evidence identified.

Ownership Structure and Beneficial Shareholders

Kingfisher plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: KGF) and is a FTSE 100 constituent.1918 Major disclosed institutional shareholders include:

These are diversified global asset managers holding positions across thousands of companies, including Israeli-listed firms, as a function of index-tracking mandates. No evidence of active strategic investment in Israel linked specifically to Kingfisher’s ownership structure has been identified. No private equity sponsor or majority shareholder with documented direct strategic investment in Israel has been identified in Kingfisher’s current ownership structure.18

Keter Group Ownership Exposure

At the time of the 2016 acquisition, BC Partners (private equity, Luxembourg/UK domiciled) acquired approximately 80% of Keter Group for approximately USD $1.6 billion; PSP Investments (Canadian pension fund) co-invested; and the founding Sagol family retained a reported approximately 20% minority stake.76 Keter Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States in 2023, citing debt restructuring (confirmed in training knowledge; no specific citable filing URL confirmed). The post-restructuring ownership composition is not confirmed in a specifically citable public document. To the extent Screwfix purchases Keter-manufactured goods, supplier income flows to this ownership structure.

Palram Industries Capital Structure

Palram Industries is listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE: PLRM).21 Kibbutz Ramat Yohanan holds the controlling interest.821 Supplier revenues from Palram’s UK sales — including sales to Screwfix — flow in part to this kibbutz-controlled holding. No Kingfisher equity stake in Palram has been identified. No public evidence identified of direct investment exposure.

Portfolio and Fund Exposure

No publicly disclosed holdings by Kingfisher plc or Screwfix in Israeli-domiciled companies, Israeli sovereign bonds, or Israel-focused investment funds have been identified in any filing.2 No public evidence identified.

Operational Presence & Market Activity

Physical Footprint

No evidence of Kingfisher plc or Screwfix operating offices, sales operations, support centres, warehouses, retail locations, or any other physical presence within Israel or occupied territories has been identified.14218 No public evidence identified.

Employment and Tax Contribution

No public disclosure of Kingfisher plc or Screwfix workforce, tax registration, or regulatory filings within the Israeli jurisdiction has been identified. No public evidence identified.

Market Positioning

Israel does not appear as a disclosed revenue segment or named target market in any Kingfisher annual report, investor presentation, or press release identified in training data.21 Kingfisher’s disclosed geographic segments are: UK & Ireland, France, Poland, Iberia, Romania, and Other International. No public evidence identified that Israel constitutes a commercial market for Screwfix or Kingfisher.

Technology Infrastructure Partnerships

Kingfisher expanded its strategic IT partnership with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), an India-headquartered company.22 No Israeli technology component of this partnership is documented. Kingfisher announced a five-year strategic partnership with Google Cloud in November 2022.23 Google has disclosed infrastructure investments in Israel (Project Nimbus, a cloud contract with the Israeli government, announced 2021). No contractual link between Kingfisher’s specific Google Cloud service consumption and Project Nimbus infrastructure has been identified; the relationship is indirect and inferential. A Cybernews report confirmed that Kingfisher’s IT systems were breached in 2022.24 No Israeli technology vendor is identified in connection with this event.

A Check Point Software Technologies case study cited in prior research describes an unnamed “furniture manufacturer” deploying Check Point rugged appliances for ICS network security. This document does not name Kingfisher plc or Screwfix; attribution of the case study to Kingfisher is unsupported speculation and is treated as unverified for purposes of this audit. No public evidence identified of named Israeli technology vendor contracts held directly by Kingfisher plc or Screwfix.

Corporate Structure & Foundational Ties

Founding and Incorporation History

Screwfix was founded in 1979 in the United Kingdom as a mail-order catalogue business (originally “The Screwfix Direct” catalogue) and was acquired by Kingfisher plc in 1999.1825 It has no Israeli-origin operations, brand identity, or founding connection. Kingfisher plc was formed via the merger of Woolworth Holdings and B&Q in the late 1980s, with subsequent acquisitions across Europe.18 No Israeli founding connection exists for either entity.

Headquarters and Domicile

KIPL as Structural Procurement Vehicle

Kingfisher International Products Limited (KIPL) occupies a structurally significant position as the group-level IP holder and importer of record for Own Exclusive Brand products.3 Registered at 1 Paddington Square, London W2 (Companies House number 09861549), its strategic report confirms its role in centralising group sourcing contracts.3 There is no Israeli ownership stake, board appointee, or governance instrument linking KIPL to Israeli state or commercial interests.

OEM Supply Relationships: Kapro / Magnusson

Kapro Industries holds registered trademarks for the Plumb Site® Dual-View™ and Optivision® Red Vials technologies used in its professional spirit level range.26 Magnusson is a Kingfisher OEB whose branding is applied to tools and measuring equipment sold across Screwfix and B&Q.273 The visual and technological similarity between Kapro’s catalogued spirit level products and Magnusson-branded levels sold at Screwfix and B&Q constitutes a forensic inference that Kapro is the OEM manufacturer of Magnusson spirit levels. No public disclosure by Kingfisher, KIPL, or Kapro confirming this OEM relationship has been identified in training data. A Serbian competition authority (KZK) proceedings record confirms regulatory action against producers and distributors of Kapro-branded tools for anti-competitive practices,28 though this does not directly evidence or negate the Screwfix/Kingfisher sourcing relationship.

OEM Supply Relationships: Keter / “Site” Brand Tool Storage

A YouTube product comparison video by an independent reviewer demonstrates visual and structural similarities between the RIDGID PRO GEAR, Erbauer Stack, and JCB Site System tool storage ranges, asserting all are manufactured by Keter.29 Whether the “Site” OEB sold through Screwfix specifically is manufactured by Keter has not been confirmed by any named primary source beyond visual inference. No public disclosure by Kingfisher, KIPL, or Keter confirming this OEM relationship has been identified.

State and Institutional Linkages

No state ownership stake, government board appointee, government contract, or designation as critical national infrastructure relating to Israel has been identified for Screwfix or Kingfisher plc.24 No golden shares, founder shares, or charter restrictions tying Kingfisher’s operations or mission to Israeli state or policy objectives have been identified in any filing or disclosure.2 No public evidence identified.

Profit Repatriation & Economic Contribution

Revenue Attribution

Kingfisher plc does not disclose revenue attributed to Israel as a market in its annual reports or segment reporting. Israel does not appear as a disclosed revenue segment.2 No public evidence identified of revenues generated in Israel by Screwfix or Kingfisher.

Profit Flows via Supplier Income

To the extent that Screwfix purchases goods from Israeli-headquartered suppliers — Keter Group, Palram Industries, and Kapro Industries — through their UK subsidiaries or directly, a portion of the purchase price flows to those Israeli parent entities as supplier income. This represents an economic benefit to Israeli-domiciled commercial entities as a function of the trade relationship:

The quantum of these flows is not disclosed in any public document. Kingfisher’s cost-of-sales disclosures are bundled and not disaggregated by supplier or country.2

Profit Repatriation via Ownership

No evidence of Kingfisher or Screwfix profits being repatriated to Israel via Israeli-domiciled ownership has been identified. Kingfisher is UK-listed and UK-domiciled with no Israeli parent, controlling shareholder, or beneficial owner identified in training data.218 No public evidence identified of profit repatriation flows from Screwfix/Kingfisher into Israel via ownership structure.

Economic Ecosystem Role

No publicly available assessment, industry report, or government designation characterising Screwfix or Kingfisher plc’s significance within any sector of the Israeli economy has been identified. No public evidence identified.

UK Manufacturing Displacement: Keter

Keter UK operated a manufacturing plant in Redruth, Cornwall. The Cornwall Live article (2018) reports the risk of dozens of job losses connected to a planned factory closure at that site.30 Consolidation to a Banbury, Oxfordshire facility is reported in training knowledge but no specific filing URL has been confirmed for this transition. The downstream effect of sourcing Keter-manufactured products — formerly partly produced in the UK — involves a reduction in domestic UK manufacturing employment, with production concentrated in Israeli and European Keter facilities.

End Notes

Footnotes

  1. https://www.kingfisher.com/~/media/files/k/kingfisher-plc/universal/investors/kingfisher-at-a-glance2025 ↩ ↩2

  2. https://www.kingfisher.com/content/dam/kingfisher/investors/results-reports-and-presentations/2024/kingfisher-annual-report-2023-24.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13

  3. https://www.kingfisher.com/~/media/Files/K/Kingfisher-Plc/Universal/investors/corporate-governance/corporate-governance-statements/strategic-report-kingfisher-international-products-limited-stats-22-23.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  4. https://media.screwfix.com/is/content/ae235/Content%20Management/PDF%20downloads/Kingfisher_Modern_Slavery_Act_Statement_2023-24.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  5. https://www.kingfisher.com/en/media/news/2020/kingfisher-plc-which-includes-b-q-and-screwfix-provides-p1-million-worth-of-vital-ppe-equipment.html ↩ ↩2

  6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keter_Group ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  7. https://www.investpsp.com/en/news/bc-partners-and-psp-investments-to-acquire-keter-group-from-the-sagol-family/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  8. https://www.palram.com/about-us/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  9. https://www.palram.com/us/global_operations/ ↩

  10. https://www.screwfix.com/c/outdoor-gardening/greenhouses/cat840666 ↩

  11. https://www.screwfix.com/c/building-doors/polycarbonate-sheets/cat3830032 ↩

  12. https://www.kycisrael.com/companies/513523498/kapro-intelligent-tools-ltd/ ↩ ↩2

  13. https://kapro.com/about-us/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  14. https://www.kingfisher.com/en/about-us.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  15. https://www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/133 ↩ ↩2

  16. https://unjppi.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/unsettling-goods-factsheet-keter.pdf ↩

  17. https://www.palram.com/project/greenhouse-plant-nursery-israel/ ↩

  18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingfisher_plc ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  19. https://markets.ft.com/data/equities/tearsheet/profile?s=KGF:LSE ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  20. https://www.nbim.no/en/investments/holdings/ ↩ ↩2

  21. https://www.investing.com/equities/palram-ind ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  22. https://www.tcs.com/who-we-are/newsroom/press-release/kingfisher-strategic-partnership-tcs ↩

  23. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kingfisher-chooses-google-cloud-as-catalyst-for-growth-and-innovation-301689619.html ↩

  24. https://cybernews.com/news/kingfisher-confirms-its-it-systems-were-breached/ ↩

  25. https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/economics-business-and-labor/businesses-and-occupations/kingfisher-plc ↩

  26. https://kapro.com/spirit-levels-products/ ↩

  27. https://www.diy.com/brands/magnusson ↩

  28. https://kzk.gov.rs/en/pokrenut-postupak-ptotiv-proizvodaca-i-distributera-alata-marke-kapro/ ↩

  29. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s8TBpqjWFY ↩

  30. https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/dozens-jobs-risk-redruth-factory-8425974 ↩