type public limited company industry retail founded 1969 southampton founder richard block & david quayle headquarters eastleigh hampshire england united kingdom number of locations 389 stores 2014 1 key people michael loeve products diy home improvement tools gardening supplies and plants revenue 4.5 billion 2013 14 2 3 net income 198 million 2013 14 2 3 number of employees 29 962 2010 4 5 parent kingfisher website b & q uk website b & q china website b & q ireland website b & q plc originally known as block & quayle is a british multinational diy and home improvement retailing company with headquarters in eastleigh england united kingdom . founded by richard block & david quayle in 1969 it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of kingfisher plc. 6 b & q currently has stores in mainland china ireland and taiwan as well as the united kingdom . it is the largest diy retail chain in china and the united kingdom . it is the second largest in europe and the fourth largest in the world behind the home depot lowe s & obi . 7 contents 1 history 1.1 1969 to 2000 1.2 2000 to present 2 criticism 3 stores 4 references 5 external links history edit 1969 to 2000 edit b & q was founded in march 1969 in southampton england by richard block & david quayle . the first store opened in the southampton suburb of portswood 8 and was originally called block & quayle soon shortened to b & q. 9 the chain quickly expanded and by 1979 there were 26 stores across the united kingdom by which time the first of the co founders had left the business block left in 1976 & quayle in 1982 . 10 b & q grew rapidly through a combination of mergers acquisitions and expansions . in 1980 b & q bought the hampshire based company dodge city and was itself acquired by the f. w. woolworth company . 11 f. w. woolworth s united kingdom subsidiary woolworth s ltd. and b & q were bought two years later by paternoster now known as kingfisher plc and still b & q s parent company . 12 in the late 1980s b & q purchased timberland diy based in the north east . citation needed 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 in the late 1980s . the concept being to have a homecentre autocentre and diy superstore with one communal car park . the forays into these new markets were relatively short lived and the various sites were sold on a couple of years later . the autocentres becoming in the main charlie browns the homecentres being sold off individually . in the mid 1990s b & q opened a new format of store known as the depot later changed to b & q depot 13 a forerunner of a new class of store known as the b & q warehouse . the company also began to expand outside the united kingdom . in 1995 it co operated with parent company kingfisher plc to open its first overseas subsidiary in taiwan 14 and in january 1996 the first overseas large home improvement center in taoyuan city taiwan . in september 1998 it acquired nomi poland s leading chain of diy stores 15 and later that year merged with france s castorama . 16 the following year b & q opened a store in shanghai 17 and acquired the british hardware company screwfix . citation needed 2000 to present edit a b & q megabox store in hong kong b & q opened its first store in hong kong on 1 june 2007 18 but was scheduled to close it on 13 september 2009 . 19 20 in december 2007 kingfisher sold its 50 per cent stake in b & q taiwan to its joint venture partner . the 106.5 million 52 million proceeds were used to reduce debt . 21 in march 2009 b & q closed 22 of its then 63 stores in china blaming the housing slump . 22 in may 2011 b & q agreed to acquire 31 stores in the united kingdom from the administrators of focus diy for 23m . 23 24 during 2011 b & q opened a new regional distribution centre at g.park in swindon . 25 on 31 january 2013 b & q ireland ltd. filed for examinership in the irish courts and pwc ireland was appointed examiner . 26 27 b & q ireland stores will continue to trade as normal for the next 100 days until a suitable buyer is found or alternative financing arrangements can be made . gift vouchers will continue to be honoured in stores and its 700 staff will continue to be paid . 28 it is proposed to close two of the nine irish stores in waterford and athlone . 29 b & q ireland had made a loss in each of the preceding six years . 30 criticism edit in june 2001 in poole dorset 69 year old customer pamela jean hinchliffe was fatally crushed by a forklift at the firm s fleetsbridge store . in june 2004 b & q were found guilty of causing death and the following month they received a fine of 550 000 . however in september 2005 their legal costs were reduced on appeal . 31 in november 2002 damian nicholls the forklift driver was prosecuted by the crown prosecution service at winchester crown court . on 16 june 2001 the court was told that nicholls had hit some pallets and a colleague commented that he would end up killing someone . he was acquitted of manslaughter and of causing death by dangerous driving . however in october 2005 nicholls fine was reduced again on appeal . citation needed stores edit a b & q store in grimsby england by 2000 b & q had 51 of its larger warehouse stores ; this had doubled by 2003 . by 3 may 2014 b & q in the united kingdom had 359 stores and 20 887 employees . 32 in ireland b & q operate 9 individual stores . 33 its 2004 2005 turnover was 4.1 billion and profit 400.5 million 34 compared to published figures putting turnover at 3.9 billion and profit at 162.9 million for year ending february 2007 . 35 in march 2015 kingfisher said it would close 60 b & q stores in the united kingdom and ireland over the next two years . it would also close a few loss making stores in europe . it also said that b & q uk and ireland could adequately meet local customer needs from fewer stores and some stores should be smaller . 36 country number of stores united kingdom 359 january 2015 37 china 40 january 2012 38 ireland 9 january 2013 29 references edit enright allison 20 february 2014 . the digital future of stores . internet retailer magazine . chicago vertical web media . a b kingfisher annual report 2009 10 report home business review financial review trading review uk & ireland . kingfisher.co.uk . 30 january 2010 . retrieved 29 august 2015 . a b kingfisher annual report 2009 10 report home business review financial review trading review other international . kingfisher.co.uk . 31 january 2010 . retrieved 29 august 2015 . our business and our markets uk & ireland . kingfisher annual report 2009 10 . kingfisher . retrieved 7 june 2014 . our business and our markets other international . kingfisher annual report 2009 10 . kingfisher . retrieved 7 june 2014 . company information . b & q. retrieved 23 august 2011 . interest rate worries cloud kingfisher . reuters . 31 may 2007 . retrieved 28 september 2011 . history of b & q . about b & q. b & q. archived from the original on 19 january 2012 . retrieved 19 january 2012 . cs1 maint unfit url link sawyer miranda 17 july 2004 . fear of diy ing . the guardian . london . retrieved 26 april 2010 . b & q online from kitchens & bathrooms to sheds & paving ; plus planning tools . diy.com . retrieved 29 april 2012 . 1 archived 28 september 2007 at the wayback machine . kingfisher plc home investors press releases . kingfisher.com . 30 october 2002 . retrieved 29 april 2012 . 2 archived 29 september 2007 at the wayback machine . 3 archived 8 february 2009 at the wayback machine . western influx underscores potential find articles at bnet.com . findarticles.com . retrieved 29 april 2012 . top 10 dealers on earth grow 21.7 % find articles at bnet.com . findarticles.com . retrieved 29 april 2012 . b & q sets its sights on ambitious store rollout shanghai b and q building material supermarket co international pages brief article find articles at bnet.com . findarticles.com . 6 august 2001 . retrieved 29 april 2012 . kingfisher plc home media press releases . kingfisher.com . 1 june 2007 . retrieved 29 april 2012 . kingfisher to close b & q store in kowloon bay . the standard . retrieved 28 april 2012 . 4 archived 25 march 2009 at the wayback machine . fletcher richard 18 december 2007 . kingfisher sells b & q taiwan stake . the daily telegraph . london . retrieved 26 april 2010 . wood zoe 26 march 2009 . kingfisher makes deep cuts in b & q s chinese chain the guardian . . the guardian . london . retrieved 28 april 2012 . b & q owner kingfisher buys 31 focus diy stores . bbc news . 6 may 2011 . retrieved 16 november 2012 . grierson jamie 6 may 2011 . b & q owner buys 31 focus diy stores . the independent . london . retrieved 16 november 2012 . swindon advertiser accessed 31 march 2015 b & q owner s kingfisher puts irish arm into examinership . bbc news . 1 february 2013 . retrieved 2 february 2013 . video b & q s troubled irish arm seeks examinership but insists it s business as usual . irish independent . examiner appointed to diy chain b & q ireland . rt news . 31 january 2013 . a b 31 january 2013 16 19 51 31 january 2013 . b & q enters examinership proposes closing athlone and waterford stores . breakingnews.ie . retrieved 29 august 2015 . 5 dead link uk b & q forklift death appeal fails . bbc news . 27 september 2005 . retrieved 24 march 2015 . kingfisher plc about us . kingfisher.com . retrieved 11 july 2014 . b & q online from kitchens & bathrooms to sheds & paving ; plus planning tools . diy.com . retrieved 28 april 2012 . uk wire . moneyextra.uk wire.com . retrieved 29 april 2012 . b & q firm upbeat but profit falls . bbc news . 29 march 2007 . retrieved 26 april 2010 . kingfisher to close about 60 b & q stores bbc news . bbc.co.uk . retrieved 29 august 2015 . kingfisher plc about us brands b & q . kingfisher.com . 31 january 2015 . retrieved 29 august 2015 . kingfisher plc about us brands b & q . kingfisher.com . 28 january 2012 . retrieved 28 april 2012 . external links edit hampshire portal companies portal wikimedia commons has media related to b & q. official website v t e kingfisher plc divisions and subsidiaries current b & q brico d p t castorama screwfix tradepoint former kesa electricals comet group darty wegert 1 r no d p t the building box superdrug2 woolworths group3 joint ventures and shareholdings hornbach diy 21 % ko ta 50 % other