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B&Q
B&Q Limited (short for Block & Quayle after the company's two founders) is a British multinational DIY, home improvement and garden centre retailing company, with headquarters in Eastleigh, England. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kingfisher plc. It was founded in March 1969 by Richard Block and David Quayle.
It is the UK's largest home improvement retailer, serving both the general public and tradespeople. In contrast, its main competitor Wickes primarily caters to trade professionals. Where the British home improvement sector faced hostile competition in the 1990s, B&Q has become the dominant retailer in its sector following the demise of Focus in 2011 and Homebase in 2025.
B&Q was founded in March 1969 in Southampton, England, by Richard Block and David Quayle, following the purchase and fitting out of a former furniture warehouse in the Southampton suburb of Portswood. Originally called Block & Quayle, the duo soon shortened the brand to B&Q as stock delivery notes and invoices were already unofficially abbreviating the name.
By each working over sixty-hour, six-day weeks, they were able to repay their bank overdraft within six months of opening, with turnover reaching £1 million within the first five years of operating. The chain quickly expanded, and by 1979, there were 26 shops across the United Kingdom.
Co-founder Block left the company in 1976.
B&Q grew rapidly through a combination of mergers, acquisitions and expansions, such as the acquisition of a Hampshire based company Dodge City at the beginning of the 1980s. The chain was itself acquired by the F. W. Woolworth Company for £16.8 million at the beginning of the 1980s, coinciding with Quayle, who by that time had a personal wealth of £4 million, selling his share. This would result, for a time, in B&Q being an indirect sister company to Foot Locker, another F. W. Woolworth subsidiary.
Two years later, F. W. Woolworth's United Kingdom subsidiary (Woolworths Group) and B&Q were purchased by Paternoster Stores, which became Kingfisher plc and is still B&Q's parent company as of 2023[update].
B&Q developed two new trading formats: HomeCentres, retailing furniture, bathrooms, soft furniture, flooring and lighting; and AutoCentres, being similar to a Halfords, the first launch taking place at Cribbs Causeway, Bristol, at the end of the 1980s. The concept being to have a HomeCentre, AutoCentre and DIY Superstore with one communal car park.
B&Q
B&Q Limited (short for Block & Quayle after the company's two founders) is a British multinational DIY, home improvement and garden centre retailing company, with headquarters in Eastleigh, England. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kingfisher plc. It was founded in March 1969 by Richard Block and David Quayle.
It is the UK's largest home improvement retailer, serving both the general public and tradespeople. In contrast, its main competitor Wickes primarily caters to trade professionals. Where the British home improvement sector faced hostile competition in the 1990s, B&Q has become the dominant retailer in its sector following the demise of Focus in 2011 and Homebase in 2025.
B&Q was founded in March 1969 in Southampton, England, by Richard Block and David Quayle, following the purchase and fitting out of a former furniture warehouse in the Southampton suburb of Portswood. Originally called Block & Quayle, the duo soon shortened the brand to B&Q as stock delivery notes and invoices were already unofficially abbreviating the name.
By each working over sixty-hour, six-day weeks, they were able to repay their bank overdraft within six months of opening, with turnover reaching £1 million within the first five years of operating. The chain quickly expanded, and by 1979, there were 26 shops across the United Kingdom.
Co-founder Block left the company in 1976.
B&Q grew rapidly through a combination of mergers, acquisitions and expansions, such as the acquisition of a Hampshire based company Dodge City at the beginning of the 1980s. The chain was itself acquired by the F. W. Woolworth Company for £16.8 million at the beginning of the 1980s, coinciding with Quayle, who by that time had a personal wealth of £4 million, selling his share. This would result, for a time, in B&Q being an indirect sister company to Foot Locker, another F. W. Woolworth subsidiary.
Two years later, F. W. Woolworth's United Kingdom subsidiary (Woolworths Group) and B&Q were purchased by Paternoster Stores, which became Kingfisher plc and is still B&Q's parent company as of 2023[update].
B&Q developed two new trading formats: HomeCentres, retailing furniture, bathrooms, soft furniture, flooring and lighting; and AutoCentres, being similar to a Halfords, the first launch taking place at Cribbs Causeway, Bristol, at the end of the 1980s. The concept being to have a HomeCentre, AutoCentre and DIY Superstore with one communal car park.
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