Focus DIY is a privately owned chain of DIY stores in the UK. It serves the light DIY market sector, and most stores have some form of garden centre. Its main competitors are B&Q and Homebase. It is the third largest DIY retailer in the UK and in 2005/2006 saw profits of £42.7m against sales of just over £700m^[1]. The company had 180 stores in the UK as of June 2008.

History

Founded by Bill Archer and a former business partner in 1987 Focus increased its market share with a mix of both acquisitions and organic growth including the purchase of the Do It All DIY chain from Boots in 1998. Both chains were rebranded as "Focus Do It All". In 1999 following the takeover of Wickes, a DIY chain focused on building supplies, the group became known as Focus Wickes, although the two distinct retail formats and identities were retained.

Focus later purchased the Great Mills chain from [Readymix Corporation Group|RMC] in 2000. These stores were re-branded as Focus, except for some that became Wickes. A later move eventually saw all non-Wickes stores rebranded as Focus ("Focus for DIY and Gardening"), although the official company name is Focus (DIY) Limited. Following these acquisitions Focus was temporarily the number two DIY retailer in the UK with over 400 stores split between the Focus and Wickes chains.

During the early part of the 21st century, some former Great Mills and Do It All stores were refitted and in 2005, the Wickes business and stores were sold to Travis Perkins.

The new Focus

Cerberus Capital purchased Focus DIY for £1 in June 2007 and appointed Bill Grimsey, formerly a director for Wickes, as CEO. Following the acquisition a number of under-performing stores were sold to Homebase, Wickes, Tesco or J Sainsbury while others were closed.

Supply chain

Focus has 2 main distribution centers, one in Tamworth and another in Severnside.

The Tamworth centre was acquired with the Do It All business in 1998. The Severnside centre was set up for Great Mills. In 2002, the supply chain was altered so that the Tamworth centre served Northern stores, with Severnside serving southern stores.

References

1. ↑ Focus DIY sold for £1 | Business | guardian.co.uk

External links

• Official Website