First ever Homebase to close

Staff at Homebase in Croydon have been told that their store is to close next month.

The Purley Way store is the only Homebase in the London borough and will close its doors for the final time on Friday 21st September.

Croydon Homebase is one of around 40-60 stores which have been selected to close under a proposed Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) which would see the closure of around 60 of Homebase's 249 stores.

A spokeswoman for Homebase said: “We can confirm that our store in Croydon is set to close on September 21. “Our priority now is to continue supporting team members.”

Homebase has said it will offer "continued support" to those affected by the closure.

Australian conglomerate, Wesfarmers, acquired the Homebase business in 2016 for £340m, with the intention of expanding its well-known Bunnings home improvement chain into the UK and Ireland.

Homebase stores began the rebranding process but losses spiraled to £57 million (year to June 2017) and so, in February 2018, Wesfarmers announced its intention to close around 40 stores.  Seventeen Homebase stores have already closed since the announcement.

Sales since the acquisition failed to meet with expectations (Read - Wesfarmers admit Homebase disaster and prepares way for possible UK&I exit) and resulted in Wesfarmers' decision to sell Homebase UK & Ireland to Hilco in June of this year, for just £1.

Stores began converting back to the Homebase brand but in early July, it was revealed that Hilco had sought the assistance of restructuring experts at Alvarez & Marsal regarding a possible CVA, alongside a range of other options.

In late June, Homebase confirmed 300 head office redundancies, equivalent to 38% of the total headcount at the Store Support Centre.

Damian McGloughlin, CEO of Homebase, said: “We have not taken this decision lightly, but decisive action is required to start rebuilding Homebase’s position in the UK market. We will be providing as much support as we can to help those affected through this difficult time.”

An announcement regarding the proposed CVA is expected early next week.

Source : Insight DIY Team

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