The Amish house builder in Paradise, Pa. clutches his beard thoughtfully as he leans against the sales counter and places his order. His horse and buggy are tied up outside the 300,000 square feet of mills along a rural stretch of Route 30, while lean crews inside are assembling doors, roof trusses, and wall and floor panels for professional builders as far away as Virginia. Just 32 millworkers can build 740 interior and exterior doors in an eight-hour shift. Pure Americana? These mills among the Amish are owned by $13 billion (revenues) Wolseley Plc., the biggest British company you've never heard of. Reading, England-based Wolseley doesn't manufacture a single nail, and it doesn't cater to weekenders trawling Home Depot for screw guns. But for professional builders there's no bigger source of construction material. Whether it's a municipality looking for 48-inch water mains, a nationwide developer of tract housing seeking assembled wall panels or a custom builder demanding the latest Kohler bath with DVD screen, Wolseley can get it―and deliver it economically to the construction site.
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