Homebase
 |
|
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Retail / Home improvement |
| Founded | 1979 (as Sainsbury's Homebase) |
| Headquarters | Witan Gate House, 500-600 Witan Gate, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire |
|
Number of locations
|
265 stores (United Kingdom) 15 stores (Ireland) |
|
Key people
|
Peter Davis (Managing Director) Rodney Boys (Finance Director) |
| Products |
DIY Tools Paint & Decor Furniture Homewares Outdoor Living Kitchens Bathrooms Gardening |
| Revenue | £1.49 billion (2013–14) |
| Parent | Wesfarmers |
| Website | www |
Homebase is a British home improvement retailer and garden centre, with stores across the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.
Founded by Sainsbury's and GB-Inno-BM in 1979, the company was owned by Home Retail Group from October 2006 until it was sold to Wesfarmers in February 2016. Wesfarmers have announced plans to rebrand the business, under its existing Bunnings Warehouse name within three to five years.
Homebase recorded sales figures of £1.49 billion for the last financial year (2013–2014). Homebase made an operating profit of £18.9 million for the year 2013–2014.
Homebase was founded by the supermarket chain Sainsbury's and Belgian retailer GB-Inno-BM in 1979, as Sainsbury's Homebase. This was to bring a supermarket-style layout to the British Do It Yourself (DIY) market. The first store was in Croydon, opening on 3 March 1981, located on the Purley Way.
In January 1995, Homebase tripled in size, when J Sainsbury plc bought rival store group Texas Homecare, from the Ladbroke Group plc. These stores were rebranded, and converted to the Homebase format, beginning in February 1996, with the store in Longwell Green, Bristol, with the process being completed by 1999. By the time of the purchase, Texas had staff totaling 11,600, and Homebase had 4,500.
In October 1999, Sainsbury's bought Hampden Group plc, the franchisee of ten stores of Homebase across Ireland. In August 2000, the former chief executive of Texas Homecare, Ron Trenter, made an unprecedented bid for Homebase. In October 2000, Home Depot joined the race to acquire Homebase, but to no success. Home Depot were long rumoured to acquire B&Q, though talks ending in 2005 did not result in any takeover deal.
On 22 December 2000, Sainsbury's sold the Homebase chain, in an two fold deal worth £969 million. In March 2001, the sale of the chain of 283 stores to venture capitalist Schroder Ventures generated £750 million, and the sale of 28 development sites to rival B&Q's parent company, Kingfisher plc, generated £219 million. At the time, the chain had 13% of the United Kingdom market, with 283 stores and 17,000 employees, behind B&Q and Focus Do It All.
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Wikipedia