Homebase sell 70 stores to high street giant 'securing 1,600 jobs'

Around 1,600 jobs at Homebase have been secured after the firm sold 70 stores to The Range and Wilko, a spokesperson has said. It comes as the company appointed administrators fuelling fears that thousands of people could lose their jobs.

Gavin Park, Gavin Maher and Adele Macleod of Teneo Financial Advisory Limited were appointed as joint administrators of HHGL Limited and Hampden Group Limited which trade under the Homebase name.

Immediately following the appointment, the joint administrators acting for Homebase completed a sale of up to 70 UK stores, the brand and IP to CDS (Superstores International) trading as The Range and Wilko, which is expected to secure up to 1,600 jobs. Homebase stores will continue to trade until handed over to CDS.

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This is on top of the 11 stores which were previously sold to Sainsbury's over the summer. An additional three have since been exchanged on. The remaining 49 DIY and home improvement stores across the UK will continue to trade as normal whilst the joint administrators continue active discussions with interested parties, a spokesperson for Homebase has said.

Damian McGloughlin, CEO of Homebase, said that spending has declined since the pandemic. He added: "It has been an incredibly challenging three years for the home and garden improvement market.

"A decline in consumer confidence and spending following the pandemic has been exacerbated by the impact of persistent high inflation, global supply chain issues and unseasonable weather. Against this backdrop, we have taken many and wide-ranging actions to improve trading performance including restructuring the business and seeking fresh investment.

"These efforts have not been successful and today we have made the difficult decision to appoint administrators. My priority is and continues to be our team members, and I recognise that this news will be unsettling for them.

"The sale of up to 70 UK stores to CDS is expected to protect up to 1,600 jobs and the remaining 49 UK stores will continue to trade as normal while the administrators complete discussions with potential buyers. I want to thank our team members and supplier partners from the bottom of my heart for their hard work and commitment over many years."

Homebase has been exploring a number of options to support the future of the business and despite a recent improvement in trading performance, these efforts were insufficient and the Directors have therefore taken the difficult decision to appoint administrators, a spokesperson said.

At the date of appointment, Homebase employed 3,600 staff across its head office and stores, including those employees expected to transfer to CDS as part of the transaction. There will not be any immediate redundancies whilst the administrators urgently assess the position of the companies.

All employee wages and benefits will be paid for their period of employment. Customer orders will still be fulfilled as far as possible and arrangements will be put in place to allow gift vouchers to be used.

Gavin Maher, joint administrator, said: "We appreciate that this is a very difficult and uncertain time for all involved. The sale to CDS preserves the Homebase brand and secures a significant number of jobs and we hope to complete sales of additional stores over the coming weeks.

"The remainder of the stores will continue to trade whilst buyers are sought and we would encourage any party with an interest to get in touch. We thank Homebase’s team members and other stakeholders for their continued support."