Homebase facts for kids
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Trade name
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Homebase |
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Formerly
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| Limited company Subsidiary |
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| Industry | Retail / home improvement |
| Founded | 1979 (as Sainsbury's Homebase) |
| Headquarters |
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Number of locations
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United Kingdom: 152 Republic of Ireland: 11 (March 2020) |
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Key people
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| Products | |
| Revenue | £3.2 million profit (2019) |
| Owner | Hilco Capital |
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Number of employees
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6,600+ (2019) |
HHGL Limited, known as Homebase, is a popular British store. It sells things for your home and garden. You can find Homebase stores across the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The company started in 1979, created by Sainsbury's and the GB-Inno-BM. Over the years, Homebase has had different owners. From 2006, it was part of the Home Retail Group. Then, in 2016, an Australian company called Wesfarmers bought it.
However, Wesfarmers' plan for Homebase didn't work out well. They even tried to change the stores to their own brand, Bunnings Warehouse. In 2018, Wesfarmers sold Homebase to a company called Hilco for just £1. Hilco then made a plan to help Homebase get back on track. This plan involved closing 42 stores and reducing 1,500 jobs. By early 2020, Homebase was making a profit again.
Contents
History of Homebase
Homebase began in 1979. It was started by the supermarket chain Sainsbury's and a Belgian retailer called GB-Inno-BM. At first, it was called Sainsbury's Homebase. The idea was to make shopping for Do It Yourself (DIY) items feel like shopping in a supermarket. The very first store opened in Croydon on 3 March 1981.
In January 1995, Homebase became much bigger. Sainsbury's bought a rival store group called Texas Homecare. These Texas stores were then changed to the Homebase style. This process started in February 1996 and finished by 1999. After this, Homebase had many more staff members.
In October 1999, Sainsbury's bought ten Homebase stores in Ireland. These stores were run by another company, but Sainsbury's took them over.
On 22 December 2000, Sainsbury's sold the Homebase chain. The sale was worth a lot of money, about £969 million. A company called Schroder Ventures bought 283 stores. Another company, Kingfisher plc, bought 28 building sites. At this time, Homebase had 283 stores and 17,000 employees. It was one of the biggest DIY chains in the UK.
Home Retail Group Takes Over
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In November 2002, Homebase was sold again. This time, GUS plc bought it for £900 million. Homebase then became part of the Argos Retail Group. In October 2006, GUS split into different companies. The Argos Retail Group was renamed Home Retail Group. Homebase was part of this group until February 2016.
In October 2007, Home Retail Group bought 27 store buildings from another DIY company called Focus DIY. These stores were then changed into Homebase stores. The staff from the Focus stores also moved to work for Homebase.
In July 2013, Home Retail Group said that its stores in Ireland had not made a profit for five years. They decided to close three of the fifteen stores there. In May 2014, Homebase launched new "Design Centres" in its stores. These new areas had touch screens to help customers plan how to decorate their homes.
In October 2014, Home Retail Group announced a big change. They planned to close about a quarter of Homebase stores by 2019. They also wanted to put more Argos and Habitat shops inside Homebase stores.
Wesfarmers Buys Homebase
On 18 January 2016, an Australian company called Wesfarmers announced it would buy Homebase. Wesfarmers owns a very big hardware store chain in Australia called Bunnings. They bought Homebase for £340 million. The ownership officially changed on 27 February 2016.
In June 2016, Wesfarmers said they would stop Homebase from closing seven stores. They also tried to prevent eleven other store closures. They did say that five stores still had to close. Wesfarmers wanted to change Homebase to be more like their Bunnings stores in Australia.
In October 2016, another company called Laura Ashley plc said it would remove its small shops from 22 Homebase stores. Wesfarmers wanted to remove all these smaller shops from Homebase.
In November 2016, Bunnings said the Homebase store in St Albans would be the first to change its name to Bunnings Warehouse. This new store opened in February 2017. More stores were planned to change their names too. These new stores were designed to be like big, low-cost warehouses.
By February 2018, Wesfarmers reported that they had lost a lot of money because of the Homebase takeover. They decided to look for someone to buy Homebase from them.
Hilco Takes Over
On 25 May 2018, it was announced that Wesfarmers had sold Homebase to a company called Hilco. Hilco specializes in helping businesses that are struggling. They bought Homebase for just one pound (£1). Hilco officially took over on 12 June 2018. All 24 stores that had been changed to Bunnings were changed back to Homebase.
At the end of August 2018, Hilco proposed a plan to help Homebase. This plan, called a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), meant closing 42 stores. It also aimed to lower the rent on other stores. This plan was approved by Homebase's creditors. The stores chosen for closure were planned to shut down by early 2019.
On 24 December 2018, Hilco opened its first newly designed store in Orpington. This store combined the traditional Homebase look with some ideas from Bunnings. It focused a lot on decorating items, moving away from Wesfarmers' focus on tools. At that time, Homebase had over 170 stores in the UK and eleven in Ireland.
In February 2020, Homebase announced it was making a profit again. This happened sooner than expected. Almost all of its 164 stores were profitable. The company said its improved website and bringing back smaller shops inside stores helped a lot. Homebase confirmed it would finish its CVA plan earlier than expected, by April 2020. Hilco put Homebase up for sale again in November 2020.
In February 2024, reports said Homebase had lost a lot of money the previous year. Hilco was still looking for a buyer for the company.
How Homebase Works
In December 2016, the company moved its main office in Milton Keynes. It moved from a building it used to share with its former sister company, Argos.
Getting Products to Stores
When Homebase first started, it used big central warehouses. Products would go to these warehouses first. Then, they would be sent to the individual stores. By the 1990s, most of Homebase's products came through these central warehouses. Homebase still gets some products delivered directly to its stores from manufacturers.
Loyalty Program
In May 2009, Homebase stopped using its own loyalty program called the "Spend & Save Card". Instead, they started using the Nectar loyalty card scheme. Nectar is the biggest loyalty card program in the United Kingdom. Homebase had used its "Spend & Save" card since 1982. It was thought to be one of the first store loyalty cards ever.
After Wesfarmers bought Homebase, Homebase left the Nectar scheme on 31 December 2016.
Advertising Homebase
From 1999 to 2005, Homebase used actors Neil Morrissey and Leslie Ash in their TV adverts. They were known for being a couple in the show Men Behaving Badly. They were the faces of Homebase for six years. In March 2005, Homebase started new adverts with a new slogan: "Make a house a home."
From 2005 to 2008, Homebase used the song "Love Machine" by Girls Aloud in their TV adverts. From 2007 to 2008, the song "Orinoco Flow" by Enya was used. Then, from 2009 to 2013, "Young Folks" by Peter Bjorn and John featuring Victoria Bergsman was featured in their ads.
