B&Q: Difference between revisions

B&Q Plc is a British retailer of DIY and home improvement tools and supplies. It was founded in 1969 and is the second-largest DIY retailer in Europe, the largest in China and the fourth-largest in the world (behind The Home Depot, Lowe's and OBI). It is a subsidiary of the retail group Kingfisher plc, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Its head office is in Eastleigh, United Kingdom.^[5]

B&Q was founded in March 1969 in Southampton, England by Richard Block and David Quayle.^[6]

The store was originally called Block & Quayle, but this was soon shortened to B&Q.^[7] The chain quickly expanded and by 1979 there were 26 stores across the UK. By this time, the first of the co-founders had left the business: Block left in 1976 and Quayle in 1982.^[8]

B&Q grew rapidly during this time through a combination of mergers, acquisitions and expansions. In 1980, B&Q bought the Scottish company Dodge City, and was itself acquired by F. W. Woolworth Company.^[9] F. W. Woolworth's UK subsidiary (Woolworths Ltd.) and B&Q were bought, two years later, by Paternoster, who are now known as Kingfisher plc and are still B&Q's parent company.^[10]

The mid 1990s saw B&Q open a new format of store known as The Depot (later adjusted to B&Q Depot).^[11] This was a forerunner of a new class of store known as the B&Q Warehouse.

In the late 1990s, B&Q became active in the rest of Europe and the rest of the world. First, in 1995 it co-operated with parent company Kingfisher plc to open its first overseas subsidiary in Taiwan,^[12] and in 1996 the first overseas large home improvement center in Taoyuan City, Taiwan. In 1998, it acquired NOMI, Poland's leading chain of DIY stores;^[13] later that year B&Q merged with France's Castorama.^[14] In 1999 B&Q opened a store in Shanghai,^[15] and acquired the British hardware mailorder company, Screwfix. B&Q opened the first store in Hong Kong on 1 June 2007,^[16] but was scheduled to close it on 13 September 2009.^[17][18] In December 2007, Kingfisher sold its 50pc stake in B&Q Taiwan to its joint venture partner. The $106.5m (£52m) proceeds were used to reduce debt.^[19]

In May 2011 it was announced that B&Q had acquired 31 stores from the administrators of the Focus DIY chain.

By 2000 B&Q had 50 of its larger Warehouse stores; this had doubled by 2003. As of May 2007, B&Q in the UK had 331 stores and 39,000 employees.^[20] In the Republic of Ireland B&Q operate 9 individual stores.^[21] Its 2004/2005 turnover was £4.1 billion and profit £400.5 million,^[22] compared to published figures putting turnover at £3.9bn and profit at £162.9m for year ending February 2007.^[23] B&Q formerly advertised under the slogan "You can do it when you B&Q it", but this has been adjusted to 'The Real Deal' and 'Lets do it'. In 2011, they launched two new slogans, "What could you do this weekend?" and "Let's Do It Together", and these are designed to promote the teamwork side of B&Q. B&Q sponsored Ellen MacArthur's round the world sailing success in trimaran B&Q.^[24]

In the 2008 Superbrands survey, B&Q was voted the 88th out of 500 in a list which aims to establish which brands have the best reputation in the UK.^[25] This was the best score in its sector, higher than Jewson, Wickes and Travis Perkins.

Country	Number of Stores
United Kingdom	330 (31 Focus DIY Stores)
People's Republic of China	57[26][27]
Republic of Ireland	9

There are frequent rumours that B&Q will be bought by one of the American DIY chains Home Depot or Lowes,^{[28][29][30][31]} respectively the world's largest and second largest DIY and home improvement retailers. The rumours started in the late 1990s when the supermarket chain Asda was bought by the American giant Wal-Mart.

Visitors to both Home Depot and B&Q stores will notice how remarkably similar stores in the two chains are to each other, both using an orange colour scheme and having a similar style layout. Both use an orange square logo, orange aprons and similar slogans.^[32][33] Home Depot's slogan is "You can do it, We can help".^[34] B&Q's earlier slogan "You can do it (when you B&Q it)" was changed to "Let's do it", as it is supposedly more female friendly.^[35] Furthermore, their websites are very similar in layout, content, and colouring. B&Q's current logos and colour schemes were adopted in the late 1990s (see earlier in this article), by which time Home Depot had already achieved market dominance in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Kingfisher also owns, among others, Brico Depot, which utilises a similar colour scheme and internal lay-out to smaller B&Q Supercentre and Mini Warehouse stores,^[36] and Koctas, which has a similar internal style to Home Depot and B&Q, sharing the orange colour, stylized square logo, orange aprons and having a similar website design.^[37][38]

In 2007, B&Q won two high profile awards from The Gallup Organization for its HR policies and employee engagement programmes. B&Q was presented with the 2007 Gallup Great Workplace Award which recognises twelve companies for having the world's most engaged and productive workforces. The company also won a further HR Excellence Award for its learning and development strategy and a Diamond Award for vision and commitment on disability following their participation in Disability Standard 2007.^[39]

In 2004, a workforce survey found that racism was rife at B&Q.^[40]

In 2011, B&Q was found guilty of racial discrimination.^[41]

In 2009 Michael O’Rourke became the tenth shopper to injured in a British or Irish B&Q store since 1997. ^[42]

In July 2011, B&Q Ireland Ltd pleaded guilty to failing to ensure a safe workplace and were fined €250,000 at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court after fencing weighing half a tonne fell and killed a customer.^[43]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to B&Q.

• Official website
• Reviews at DooYoo
• Reviews at Ciao!