Our History
PaintNuts has a heritage going back almost 60 years. Launched in 2018, it’s the youngest of the NutsGroup family of companies. Along with our sister company MotorNuts, we provide quality vehicle maintenance products to car owners in the UK, specialising in car paint for minor DIY repairs.
Early days
Tom Marsden and his wife Teresa opened M&M car acessories shop in Darwen, Lancashire in 1965. It was only a small shop but its popularity meant the business grew quickly.
Before long, Tom had purchased an old Victorian school on Duckworth Street, allowing him to diversify by adding a garage and workshop to meet the needs of its customers.
Today 50 years on, M&M - still on Duckworth Street - is still the go to place for anything car related. Customers know that they can find exactly what they need and, if in doubt, ask the team about anything under the bonnet.
And while Tom and Teresa officially retired in 2000, they still pop into the shop to work alongside their son, grandson and great-grandson.
Son Ian and his wife Linda, who subsequently ran M&M, are also now retired (though they still help out too).
M&M is now under the directorship of Tom’s grandson Simon, and managed by Simon’s brother-in-law Chris.
From local to national
Under Simon and Chris’ management - and Tom and Ian’s watchful eyes - M&M started selling products on eBay and Amazon. Finally in 2016, its own e-commerce website - and MotorNuts was born.
With thousands more products and a lot of ambition, Simon and Chris called upon the expertise of the family, including Simon’s wife Catherine, to add marketing and operational experience and Chris’s wife (Simon’s sister) Louise bringing systems and finance background to the company.
As an online shop, MotorNuts takes an extensive range of first class products beyond a local market. It was immediately successful, shipping car accessories and maintenance products to every corner of the UK.
When the paint side of the business grew beyond all expectations, PaintNuts was born as a specialist outlet that utilised the very latest mixing processes and paints.
At first, we mixed paints by hand as per usual lindustry practice. In 2019 PaintNuts invested in the latest innovative paint mixing systems.
This allows us to produce high quality premium car paint that matches the original manufacturer’s colour.
Our paints are bodyshop quality, durable and easy-to-use to achieve a good result. They unfailingly meet our customers’ requirements for quality, ease-of-use and exact colour-matching.
Into the future
PaintNuts, like M&M and MotorNuts, has gone from strength to strength. In addition to the directors, we employ 11 full time staff and 4 part-time, including the 4th generation of the family - Tom’s great grandson.
All three businesses are based in the massive old school building that Tom bought when the shop outgrew its first tiny premises. With over 10,000 sq ft of retail and warehouse space and an ever-expanding team, the shop and websites still have plenty of room to grow.
The available space is great because, due to demand, our third paint mixing machine arrived in the summer of 2021.
As the business has grown and diversified to meet motorists needs, we have kept family values close to our hearts, with the same aim now as when we first launched: to give customers quality products at the right price and expert advice.
And what do Great Grandma and Great Grandad think?
They love how it’s evolved, especially the online side. Which is probably why - in the true tradition of family businesses, where everyone mucks in and does what needs to be done - they still come in to do regular shifts!