B&Q to close Exmouth store

STORE giant B&Q has confirmed its Exmouth store will close with the loss of up to 50 jobs in November.

The company said it hoped some staff will be re-deployed within the group’s stores elsewhere.

But business leaders in the town say the closure is a major blow.

Ian MacQueen, of the Chamber of Commerce, said: “We don’t want to anything like that shut as it’s another reason for people to come to Exmouth, so it’s not good news for the town.

“It’s a bit of a shame when Devon’s second largest town has lots of good things happening that B&Q should decide to decamp.”

A B&Q spokesman said a consultation with staff was currently underway.

The spokesman said: “We are currently consulting with colleagues about the proposed closure of the store on Saturday, November 7, 2015.

“B&Q will endeavour to redeploy as many colleagues as possible within B&Q stores locally as well as within the Kingfisher Group, such as at sister company Screwfix.”

B&Q said they couldn’t say how many people would be affected or the reasons behind why the store was to close.

However Mr MacQueen said that as a former director of a DIY chain he felt the market was changing.

He said: “In reality most of these groups are downsizing because of the internet. They no longer favour having big mega stores and B&Q will know that from their own internet sales.”

He said the Kingfisher Group, which owns the chain of DIY stores, also had a commercial imperative to make a profit and to pay their shareholders.

The store was earmarked for closure when Kingfisher announced 60 outlets nationwide would shut. In April B&Q said they would be closing the store as the lease for the Liverton Business Park site had run out.

B&Q has two other DIY outlets in Exeter, which will not be affected.

Last month East Devon saw a small rise in the number of people claiming unemployment benefit, bucking the regional and national trend.

The total increased by 52 to 529 last month, while in all other districts the claimant count was broadly flat.

Source : Exeter Express & Echo
www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/50-jobs-lost-Exmouth-B-Q-close-year/story-27595351-detail/story.html