Focus takes on B&Q with store expansion plan

Focus Group, the Do-It-Yourself retailer which bought the Wickes and Great Mills chains last year, is embarking on an aggressive expansion programme.

The group plans to open up to 10 stores a year under its Focus Do It All brand, which has absorbed the Great Mills chain. It also plans to open up to 10 stores a year under the Wickes name, which it is maintaining at the heavier end of the market. The group is also taking the battle to B&Q, the market leader, by opening up to five stores a year under its new Focus Wickes Warehouse concept, which combines the best of both formats in a huge 120,000 square feet store. The first Focus Wickes Warehouse opened in Glasgow in September and is understood to have been trading well.

The expansion is part of a plan by Bill Archer, chairman of the Focus Group, to capitalise on the strong growth in the DIY market. Focus currently has about 14 per cent of the UK DIY market, behind B&Q but ahead of Homebase, which was sold by J Sainsbury to Schroder Ventures last year.

Focus currently has more than 400 stores with 296 under the Focus Do It all fascia and 130 trading as Wickes.

The group is driving sales growth via a refurbishment programme which is understood to be delivering significant uplifts in like-for-like sales.

Focus is backed by Duke Street Capital, the venture capital group. It paid £289m for Wickes in December last year and £285m for Great Mills in September. The combined group is forecast to have sales of £1.7bn this year.

Focus believes it has a particular strength in market towns where it is often the only out-of-town DIY operator. It plans to continue expanding in these areas where it can avoid the attacks of the giant B&Q stores.

Focus is considering a stock market listing in the next year to 18 months once it has integrated the Great Mills and Wickes deals and increased its market share.