B&Q facts for kids

B&Q Limited

Formerly	B & Q (Retail) Limited (1970–1987) B & Q plc (1987–2019) B&Q plc (6 Nov 2019)
Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Retail
Founded	March 1969; 56 years ago (1969-03)
Founder	Richard Block David Quayle
Headquarters	Eastleigh, England, UK
Number of locations	316 shops (Jan 2023)
Area served	United Kingdom Guernsey Jersey Isle of Man Ireland Saudi Arabia
Key people	Graham Bell (CEO)
Products	DIY Home improvement tools Gardening Supplies and Plants
Revenue	£3.8 billion (2022/23)
Net income	£603 million (2022/23)
Number of employees	27,000 (2023)
Parent	Kingfisher plc

B&Q Limited is a big British company that sells things for Do-It-Yourself projects and home improvements. Its name comes from its founders, Richard Block and David Quayle. B&Q started in March 1969 and its main office is in Eastleigh, England. It's part of a larger company called Kingfisher plc.

B&Q's Story

How B&Q Started (1969-1979)

B&Q began in March 1969 in Southampton, England. Richard Block and David Quayle bought an old furniture warehouse and turned it into their first shop. They first called it Block & Quayle, but soon shortened it to B&Q. This was because delivery notes and invoices were already using the shorter name.

The founders worked very long hours, six days a week. This helped them pay off their bank loan quickly. Within five years, their sales reached £1 million. The company grew fast, and by 1979, there were 26 B&Q shops across the United Kingdom. Richard Block, one of the founders, left the company in 1976.

Growing Bigger (1980s)

B&Q expanded quickly in the 1980s. They bought other companies, like Dodge City. The company itself was bought by the F. W. Woolworth Company for £16.8 million. Around this time, David Quayle, the other founder, sold his share.

A couple of years later, B&Q and Woolworth's UK company were bought by Paternoster Stores. This company later became Kingfisher plc, which still owns B&Q today.

B&Q tried out new types of shops. They had "HomeCentres" for furniture and home decor, and "AutoCentres" for car parts, like Halfords. These shops were often next to a DIY Superstore, sharing a car park. However, these new ideas didn't last long. The AutoCentres were sold off, and the HomeCentres were also sold individually.

Expanding Further (1990s)

In the mid-1990s, B&Q opened a new type of large shop called the "Depot," which later became known as the "B&Q Warehouse."

B&Q also started to open shops outside the UK. In 1995, they opened their first international branch in Taiwan. In January 1996, they opened a large home improvement centre in Taoyuan City, Taiwan. In September 1998, B&Q bought NOMI, a big DIY chain in Poland. Later that year, B&Q joined with Castorama from France.

The 2000s

In December 2000, Kingfisher plc bought 28 building sites from Sainsbury's. These sites were originally meant for a rival shop called Homebase, but B&Q used them for their own new shops instead. In August 2001, B&Q opened its first shop in Shanghai, China. They hoped to have many more shops there by 2005.

B&Q opened its first shop in Hong Kong in June 2007, but it closed in September 2009. In December 2007, Kingfisher sold its share in B&Q Taiwan. This sale helped the company reduce its debt. In March 2009, B&Q closed 22 of its 63 shops in China because of a slowdown in house sales.

The 2010s

In May 2011, B&Q bought 31 shops in the United Kingdom from a company called Focus DIY. These shops had closed down. In 2011, B&Q also opened a new large storage and distribution centre in Swindon.

Recent Years (2020s)

In 2020, B&Q announced that its sales went up by 17.6% to £3.5 billion. This happened during the COVID-19 pandemic when many people spent money on improving their homes.

In 2021, B&Q launched a new website for customers in the Republic of Ireland. In 2022, B&Q opened its first two shops in Saudi Arabia, in the capital city of Riyadh.

In May 2023, B&Q opened a new distribution centre in Bassetlaw. Later, in August, a new B&Q shop opened in Sutton, UK. In January 2024, B&Q shared plans to open its tenth local shop on Staines high street. In February, B&Q announced they would increase the hourly pay for their UK employees. Also in 2024, B&Q reported the opening of its new shop in Staines.

B&Q Brands

B&Q has its own brands for products:

• Diall is a B&Q brand. Its name means 'Do It All'.
• Good Home was a brand used for smaller shops. It is now being replaced by B&Q Local in many places. You can still find Good Home products online and in some larger B&Q shops.
• B&Q Local is the new brand for smaller B&Q shops. It is replacing the Good Home format.

Customers

In July 2016, B&Q had about seven million customers. It was estimated that 75% of these customers looked up products on the B&Q website before buying them in a shop. B&Q used to have a "Diamond Club" for special benefits, but it stopped accepting new members in 2018.

About the Company

B&Q offers over 40,000 different products in its 300 shops and online. In May 2007, B&Q was said to be the second largest home improvement company in Europe and the fourth largest in the world.

B&Q Shops

By 2000, B&Q had 51 large warehouse shops. This number doubled by 2003. By May 2014, B&Q had 359 shops in the United Kingdom and eight shops in Ireland. They also had 20,887 employees in the UK.

In March 2015, Kingfisher, B&Q's parent company, announced that it would close 60 B&Q shops in the United Kingdom and Ireland over the next two years. They also said that B&Q could serve customers well with fewer and sometimes smaller shops.

Money Matters

B&Q's sales make up about one-third of its parent company's total income. In August 2016, sales from existing shops went up by 5.6%. In the year ending January 31, 2007, B&Q's sales were £3.9 billion. However, their profit was £162.9 million, which was less than the previous year. Profit fell even more in the year ending January 31, 2008, to £131 million.

In March 2013, it was reported that B&Q's operations in Ireland were losing money. Their nine shops there lost a combined £7 million in 2012. However, B&Q's shops in the United Kingdom were still making a profit, even though their overall sales had decreased slightly.

B&Q Around the World

Outside the United Kingdom, B&Q also has shops in Ireland and, since 2022, in Saudi Arabia. In January 2013, B&Q Ireland Ltd faced financial difficulties, but their shops continued to operate while new financial plans were made. The company successfully exited this situation a few months later in May 2013. This happened after a court approved an investment of €2.4 million, allowing eight of their nine shops to keep running.

B&Q expanded into China in 1999 and built up nearly 40 shops there. However, due to low sales, they decided to sell a 70% share of their operations in China in 2015. B&Q's parent company had already sold its 50% share in B&Q Taiwan in 2007 to focus on the growing business in China at that time.