Who owns Primark?

Associated British Foods does: a London-listed group whose majority shareholder is Wittington Investments, a company controlled by the Garfield Weston Foundation and the Weston family.

That is the answer today, but it is due to change shape. In April 2026 ABF announced that it will split Primark off from its food businesses as a separate company, also listed in London, and it is aiming to finish by December 2027. The Westons, through Wittington, are expected to remain the majority owner of both halves.

Primark is not owned by a private equity fund and is not a franchise, apart from its first stores in the Middle East, which a partner runs under licence.

What does the register show?

Primark in Britain is Primark Stores Limited, company number 00453448, incorporated on 30 April 1948 and registered at the Weston Centre, 10 Grosvenor Street, London, the same address as ABF.

Its persons-with-significant-control register names one owner: ABF Investments (No.2) Limited, holding more than 75% of the shares and votes and the right to appoint the board, notified on 30 January 2024. That company is in turn owned by Associated British Foods plc. Before January 2024 the named owner was another ABF holding company, ABF Investments plc.

The accounts confirm the chain. Primark Stores Limited's accounts for the 52 weeks to 13 September 2025, filed at Companies House on 30 May 2026, name ABF Investments (No. 2) Limited as the immediate parent and Wittington Investments Limited as the ultimate parent company.

Who controls Associated British Foods?

Associated British Foods plc, company 00293262, is listed on the London Stock Exchange, so anyone can buy its shares. But most of them are held in one place. Wittington Investments' own annual report says its group owned 58.8% of ABF at 13 September 2025.

Wittington is itself controlled by a charity. The same report says the Garfield Weston Foundation owns 79.2% of Wittington and is its ultimate controlling party, with members of the Weston family holding the rest. Garfield Weston was the Canadian-born businessman who built the group in Britain; his grandson George Weston is ABF's chief executive.

So the chain runs: Primark Stores Limited, owned by ABF; ABF, majority-owned by Wittington; Wittington, controlled by the Garfield Weston Foundation. The Foundation is one of Britain's biggest grant-making charities, and its income comes largely from the dividends that chain pays up.

What else does ABF own?

Food, mostly. Alongside Primark, ABF runs grocery brands including Twinings, Ovaltine, Patak's and Silver Spoon, plus sugar and ingredients businesses. Primark is by far the biggest single part: in the year to September 2025 it made sales of £9.5 billion and an adjusted operating profit of £1.1 billion.

Why is ABF splitting Primark off?

On 21 April 2026 ABF announced that it would separate Primark from the food businesses, after a review of the group's structure it had started in November 2025. Under the plan ABF shareholders will get shares in both companies, both will be listed in London, and the food group will keep the Associated British Foods name. In its trading update of 10 September 2026 ABF said it was targeting completion in December 2027. The split still needs shareholder approval and tax clearances.

The owners do not change in substance. Wittington is expected to hold a majority of both companies after the split, so Primark will still be Weston-controlled, just no longer inside a food group.

Primark's chief executive is Eoin Tonge, previously ABF's finance director, who was named to the job permanently in March 2026. His predecessor, Paul Marchant, resigned in March 2025 after an investigation into his conduct.

Is Primark Irish or British?

Both, in different senses. Primark began as Penneys, which opened on Mary Street in Dublin in June 1969. It was founded by Arthur Ryan, who was hired by the Weston family to set it up. It still trades as Penneys in the Republic of Ireland, and uses the Primark name everywhere else because of the J.C. Penney name. Its first store in Great Britain opened on Babington Lane in Derby in 1974.

It is still run from Dublin: the business is led by the Irish company Primark Limited, from Arthur Ryan House on Parnell Street. The UK company's accounts say it relies on that Irish company for its leadership, format and brand. But the owner is British: ABF is a London company, controlled by a British family foundation.

How big is Primark in the UK?

The UK company's accounts give 197 stores and more than 33,000 retail staff in the year to September 2025, with turnover of £3.86 billion and a profit after tax of £69.8 million. It paid no dividend to its parent that year, against £450 million the year before. Across the whole business, ABF gave 486 stores in 19 markets when it announced the split in April 2026.

Primark has also started franchising abroad. Its first franchise store, run by the Alshaya Group, opened in Kuwait in October 2025. The rest of its stores are owned and run by Primark itself.

Is Primark independent?

Not by our verified independent badge, which marks a locally and privately owned business rather than a chain, franchise or private-equity estate. Primark is a national chain of nearly two hundred UK stores, owned by one of the country's largest listed companies, so an individual Primark is a branch of a very large business, not a proprietor-owned local.

What it is not is also worth knowing. There is no private equity fund behind Primark, and although ABF's shares trade on the stock market, control sits with a family foundation rather than with outside investors. The useful label is national chain, listed but Weston family-controlled. The same family-foundation pattern sits behind Aldi, though there the foundations are German and nothing is listed.

Questions people ask

Does Primark own Penneys?

They are the same business. Primark trades as Penneys in the Republic of Ireland, where it started in 1969, and as Primark everywhere else.

Is Primark owned by Tesco or by Next?

No. Primark belongs to Associated British Foods and has no ownership link to Tesco, Next or any other retailer.

Will Primark still be owned by the Westons after the split?

That is the plan. ABF has said Wittington Investments, the Weston family's company, will remain majority owner of both Primark and the food group after the separation, which it is aiming to complete in December 2027.

Last checked 25 September 2026. This article uses the Companies House records and persons-with-significant-control registers for Primark Stores Limited (company 00453448), ABF Investments (No.2) Limited (15031006) and Associated British Foods plc (00293262); Primark Stores Limited's accounts for the 52 weeks to 13 September 2025, including its parent-company note; Wittington Investments' annual report to 13 September 2025; ABF's 2025 annual results; press reporting of ABF's separation announcement of 21 April 2026 and trading update of 10 September 2026; reporting of Eoin Tonge's appointment; Primark's account of its first store in Great Britain; and reporting of Arthur Ryan's founding of Penneys and of the Kuwait franchise. What is not claimed: the exact mechanism of the split, or who will chair the separate Primark; Wittington's stake after September 2025; Primark's store count at any date other than those given; and the first Primark store anywhere in the UK, as sources disagree on Belfast or Derby, so only the first store in Great Britain is given. If you spot something that needs correcting, email Highstreett and we will review it.