60 B& Q stores shut in revamp

KINGFISHER is to close 60 B& Q shops in Britain over the next two years in a radical makeover of the DIY giant.

The closure of one in six of its outlets will cost the FTSE 100 company about £ 350million – but it is confi dent it can redeploy most of the 3,000 staff elsewhere and will create 900 jobs in its Screwfi x business, which targets the building trade rather than homeowners.

New chief executive Véronique Laury, pictured, said the cuts were not in response to people falling out of love with home improvements but rather that the company had too many stores for the size of the market.

She said that the overhaul would include transforming Kingfi sher, which operates Castorama and Brico Depot in France as well as in other international markets, from a collection of locally managed businesses into a single, unifi ed company.

It will reduce the number of products it sells, develop consolidated garden and bathroom businesses and invest heavily in revitalising its remaining B& Q estate.

Cost savings from a more effi cient business will be passed on to customers through lower prices. Kevin O’Byrne, Kingfi sher’s B& Q UK and Ireland boss, is to leave in May.

The new strategy was unveiled as Kingfi sher posted a 7.5 per cent fall in annual adjusted pre- tax profi t to £ 675million on 1.4 per cent lower sales of just under £ 11billion.

It took a £ 34million hit from adverse currency movements and underlying profi t was up 1.5 per cent. In the UK and Ireland, profi t was up 16.2 per cent to £ 276million on 5.4 per cent higher sales of £ 4.6billion, with Screwfi x growing turnover by a quarter to £ 835million.

Laury said: “Home improvement is alive in the UK and there is a massive need for it. The average age of property is 60 years. We just need to provide a more innovative solution. We will be spending millions of pounds refreshing B& Q.

“Young people have less knowledge from parents but there is a willingness to learn. We will enable them to improve their home or get the help they need.”

Kingfi sher shares rose 15 ¾ p to 380 ½ p.