Bunnings will arrive in the UK in October when the Australian DIY chain will convert the first of the Homebase stores it bought for £340m this year.
The company has hired British retail veteran Archie Norman and fellow former Kingfisher executive Matt Tyson to sit on an advisory board for the venture.
Norman is credited with the 1990s rescue of Asda and previously worked for Kingfisher, the owner of Homebase’s rival B&Q. He is closely associated with Bunnings’ parent company, Wesfarmers, after assisting with the turnaround of its Australian grocery business Coles.
A pilot Bunnings store will open in October, potentially followed by another one or two before Christmas and a handful more early next year. These will be tested before Bunnings splashes out its planned £500m investment to convert the whole chain.
“We are delighted to have access to such high-quality and strong-thinking people who will bring strategic rigour and real UK market insight to help with the turnaround,” said John Gillam, Bunnings’ chief executive.
He said it was likely to take at least two years to convert all the Homebase stores, but it was important to run the chain more effectively before then.
Gillam said Bunnings was already making changes to Homebase, bringing in new products including a wider range of barbecues, cutting prices and improving service. The changes follow the departure of Homebase’s former management team, which has been replaced by Bunnings’ staff – Peter Davis as managing director and Rodney Boys as finance director.
“We had to do some pretty urgent work,” said Gillam, who added that Bunnings had halted seven of 23 store closures planned by Homebase at the time of the sale, saving 200 jobs. It hopes to prevent the closure of 11 more, saving another 500 jobs, while five have closed with the loss of about 200 jobs.
Gillam said it was clear the “UK does have the attractive characteristics we found in due diligence” before the Homebase acquisition, including a large number of old houses that needed work, keen gardeners and high home ownership.
He said the company had its “eyes wide open” about the prospect of the UK exiting the EU and this would not affect its plans. “We are here for the long run and seeing nothing that doesn’t tell us that home improvement retailing has good prospects,” he said.
