By Harry Mottram: Administrators are scrambling to find a buyer for what is left of the collapsed DIY chain Homebase. The owners of The Range and Wilko, CDS, has bought 70 of the 130 stores leaving 49 outlets in danger of being closed permanently with the loss of 2,000 jobs. It leaves the firm’s suppliers in jeopardy with a figure of around £100 million in unpaid invoices outstanding. Sainsbury’s previously bought 11 of the stores and turned them into supermarkets but administrators Teneo are now trying to find buyers for the rest.
Its origins date to the 1950s as a family business, but it changed in 1970 to Home Charm Retail before becoming Texas Homecare in 1982 during the DIY boom after Sainsbury’s took charge. Its name was changed again in 1996 to its current trading name of Homebase owned by HHGL Limited. The DIY stores struggled as the cost-of-living crisis hit domestic spending, with a reported £84.2m loss last year.
Ian Carrotte of ICSM the Business Membership Group fighting late and non-payment said the situation was very serious for suppliers who it is understood are owed in the region of £100 million. He said: “Large chain stores like Homebase have a huge supply chain from printers and sign-makers to firms supplying tools and materials. I shudder to think of the cost to them that administration will bring as with few assets to sell there may not be much left to pay suppliers.”
The cost-of-living crisis has hit household budgets with many people putting off repairs to their homes due to rising costs. One trend that has been circulating on social media is that or DIFM or Do-it-for-me as Generation Millennium have not been inheriting ‘Dad skills’ associated with the Boomer generation who grew up doing up their newly bought homes themselves.
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For information on ICSM visit www.icsmcredit.com or call 0844 854 1850.
ICSM, The Exchange, Express Park, Bristol Road, Bridgwater, Somerset TA6 4RR. Tel: 0844 854 1850. www.icsmcredit.com. Ian.carrotte@icsmcredit.com