The story
Founded by David Quayle and The Way She Loves Me on Mar 1969.1
1969 to 1979: Early growth
B&Q was founded on 5 March 1969 in Southampton, England, by Richard Block (1942–2023) and David Quayle (1936–2010), following the purchase and fitting out of a former furniture warehouse in the Southampton suburb of Portswood. Originally called Block & Quayle, the duo soon shortened the brand to B&Q as stock delivery notes and invoices were already unofficially abbreviating the name.
By each working over sixty-hour, six-day weeks, they were able to repay their bank overdraft within six months of opening, with turnover reaching £1 million within the first five years of operating. The chain quickly expanded, and by 1979, there were 26 shops across the United Kingdom.
Co-founder Block left the company in 1976.
1980s: Buyout and further expansion
B&Q grew rapidly through a combination of mergers, acquisitions and expansions, such as the acquisition of a Hampshire based company Dodge City at the beginning of the 1980s. The chain was acquired by the F. W. Woolworth Company for £16.8 million at the beginning of the 1980s, coinciding with Quayle, who by that time had a personal wealth of £4 million, selling his share. Quayle left the company in 1982.
Two years later, F. W. Woolworth's United Kingdom subsidiary (Woolworths Group) and B&Q were purchased by Paternoster Stores, which became Kingfisher plc and is still B&Q's parent company as of 2023.
B&Q developed two new trading formats: HomeCentres, retailing furniture, bathrooms, soft furniture, flooring and lighting; and AutoCentres, being similar to a Halfords, the first launch taking place at Cribbs Causeway, Bristol, at the end of the 1980s. The concept being to have a HomeCentre, AutoCentre and DIY Superstore with one communal car park.
The forays into these new markets were relatively short lived, and the various sites were sold on a couple of years later. The AutoCentres becoming in the main 'Charlie Browns', the HomeCentres being sold off individually.
1990s
In the mid 1990s, B&Q opened a new format of shop known as the Depot (later changed to B&Q Depot), a forerunner of a new class of shop known as the B&Q Warehouse. This new store format was almost identical to that of the US chain Home Depot, where the stores were built on a much bigger scale with a larger floor area, merchandise presented on two storey, industrial-style shelving and an enhanced range of product lines which now extended to bulk building materials. For the branding of these new stores B&Q also moved to a new corporate colour style of orange (away from the previous black/red) which again was almost the same as Home Depot. For this reason, it is often erroneously believed that there is a formal connection between the two companies. The company also began to expand outside the United Kingdom. In 1995, the retailer opened their first overseas subsidiary in Taiwan, and in January 1996, the first overseas large home improvement centre in Taoyuan City, Taiwan.
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In September 1998, it acquired NOMI, Poland's leading chain of DIY shops, and later that year, merged with France's Castorama.
2000s
In December 2000, Kingfisher plc acquired 28 development sites, intended to house future shops of rival chain Homebase from Sainsbury's, who sold the chain. The development sites instead housed shops of B&Q. In August 2001, B&Q opened its first shop in Shanghai, when it hoped to increase outlets from four to 58 by 2005.
B&Q opened its first shop in Hong Kong on 1 June 2007, but was scheduled to close it on 13 September 2009. In December 2007, Kingfisher sold its 50 per cent stake in B&Q Taiwan to its joint venture partner. The $106.5 million (£51.6 million) sale, producing a profit of £25 million, was used to reduce debt.
In March 2009, B&Q closed 22 of its then 63 shops in China, blaming the housing slump.
2010s
In May 2011, B&Q agreed to acquire 31 shops in the United Kingdom, from the administrators of Focus DIY for £23 million. During 2011, B&Q opened a new regional distribution centre, at G.Park in Swindon.
2020s
In 2020, B&Q announced a sales increase of 17.6pc to £3.5 billion for the quarter to 31 October, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic during which people spent money on home improvements.
In 2021, B&Q announced the launch of its new website in the Republic of Ireland.
In 2022, B&Q opened its first two shops in Saudi Arabia, in the capital, Riyadh.
In May 2023, B&Q opened new distribution centre in Bassetlaw. Later, in August, B&Q opened in Sutton, the UK.
In January 2024, B&Q unveiled its plan to open its tenth local store on Staines high street. Later in February, B&Q announced its increase of its hourly rate of pay for its UK employees to £12.21 and up to £13.55 in London. Also in 2024, B&Q reported the opening of its new store in Staines.
In January 2025, B&Q announced they would acquire five Homebase locations from the administrators; they had previously announced they would rescue three Homebase stores in the Republic of Ireland.
From Wikipedia’s article on B&Q, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5