traded as lse kgf otcqx kgfhy industry retail founded 1982 ; 34 years ago 1982 headquarters paddington city of westminster london united kingdom key people daniel bernard chairman 1 v ronique laury group chief executive 1 products home improvement products such as home appliances tools home furnishings hardware and garden supplies & plants . revenue 10 966 million 2015 2 operating income 687 million 2015 2 net income 573 million 2015 2 number of employees approximately 74 000 2016 3 website www.kingfisher.com company headquarters 3 sheldon square london kingfisher plc is a british multinational retailing company headquartered in london . 4 it is the largest home improvement retailer in europe and the third largest in the world behind the home depot and lowe s . it has over 1 176 stores in eleven countries across asia and europe and its brands include b & q castorama brico d p t and screwfix . 5 kingfisher is listed on the london stock exchange and is a constituent of the ftse 100 index . contents 1 history 2 operations 3 former operations 4 references 5 external links history edit kingfisher was founded in 1982 by the buyout of the british woolworths chain by paternoster stores ltd which later changed its name to woolworth holdings plc. 6 the company expanded through subsequent acquisitions of companies such as b & q superdrug and comet . 6 it was led from 1984 until his retirement in 2002 by sir geoffrey mulcahy who became renowned for his taciturn public persona lengthy decision making and love of sailing . largely through his influence kingfisher became the major sponsor of british sailor ellen macarthur . 7 it was renamed kingfisher plc in 1989 . 6 further acquisitions of european companies such as castorama 8 but s.a. 9 and wegert 10 enabled the company to grow to become the largest general retail business in the united kingdom . in july 1999 kingfisher attempted a takeover of asda one of the united kingdom s largest supermarket chains only to be beaten by wal mart . 11 in august 2001 coupled with an acrimonious battle for control of castorama 12 the resultant share price pressure forced the sale and demerger of several parts of the company including woolworths forming the woolworths group 13 and the demerger of the electricals business to form kesa electricals in july 2003 causing the company to refocus entirely around diy . 14 the company was led by gerry murphy from 2002 2008 . 15 in january 2008 kingfisher appointed ian cheshire as group chief executive . 15 cheshire was formerly b & q s chief executive ; his b & q role was taken over in april 2009 by euan sutherland who also heads up the united kingdom division of kingfisher . 16 in september 2014 it was announced that the head of castorama v ronique laury would replace ian cheshire as kingfisher group ceo in february 2015 . laury has worked at kingfisher for eleven years including roles at b & q. 17 18 operations edit kingfisher currently operates over 1 176 stores in eleven countries in asia and europe . its main retail brands are b & q castorama brico d p t and screwfix . 19 the companies now part of the kingfisher group are b & q ; operations in the united kingdom ireland and china brico d p t ; in france spain and romania castorama ; in france poland and russia ko ta ; 50 % joint venture in turkey screwfix ; has over 400 branches in the united kingdom and in september 2014 opened 4 stores in germany former operations edit woolworths group closed in 2008 comet group closed in december 2012 references edit a b management & committees . kingfisher plc. 3 june 2009 . retrieved 10 september 2014 . a b c annual report 2015 pdf . retrieved 25 march 2016 . about us . kingfisher.co.uk . retrieved 25 march 2016 . kingfisher group . kingfisher plc. retrieved 2 february 2011 . kingfisher uk 3 sheldon square paddington london w2 6px about us . kingfisher.com . 21 november 2012 . retrieved 21 november 2012 . a b c kingfisher history . kingfisher.com . retrieved 18 april 2011 . offshore challenges media isaf secretariat 3 january 2002 . kingfisher continues sponsorship . sailing.org . retrieved 18 april 2011 . french turn eyes to international arena . findarticles.com . retrieved 18 april 2011 . kingfisher takes stake in french retailer . new york times . 24 june 1998 . retrieved 18 april 2011 . kingfisher builds position in germany dead link wal mart buys asda in united kingdom retail shock . findarticles.com . retrieved 18 april 2011 . osborne alistair 16 may 2002 . kingfisher swoops for castorama . the daily telegraph . uk . retrieved 18 april 2011 . personal finance how to grow your wealth and spend less money telegraph . telegraph.co.uk . retrieved 16 march 2015 . kesa chief s pay will double after split archived 12 june 2011 at the wayback machine . a b the retail bulletin . the retail bulletin . retrieved 18 april 2011 . new man in b & q hot seat . dailyecho.co.uk . 4 april 2008 . retrieved 18 april 2011 . farrell sean 10 september 2014 . kingfisher names french diy boss v ronique laury as new chief executive . the guardian . retrieved 10 september 2014 . felsted andrea 10 september 2014 . v ronique laury unexpected choice for kingfisher crown . financial times . retrieved 10 september 2014 . company overview . kingfisher . 27 october 2012 . retrieved 29 november 2012 . external links edit london portal companies portal official site yahoo profile 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 european retail round table geoffrey mulcahy 1 demerged in 2003 2sold in 2001 3demerged in 2001 category v t e ftse 100 companies of the united kingdom ftse 250 3i admiral group anglo american antofagasta ashtead group associated british foods astrazeneca aviva bae systems bhp billiton bp babcock international barclays barratt developments british american tobacco british land bt group bunzl burberry capita carnival centrica coca cola hbc compass group crh croda international dcc diageo direct line group dixons carphone easyjet experian fresnillo gkn glaxosmithkline glencore hammerson hargreaves lansdown hikma pharmaceuticals hsbc imperial brands informa intercontinental hotels group international airlines group intertek intu properties itv johnson matthey kingfisher land securities group legal & general lloyds banking group london stock exchange group marks & spencer mediclinic international merlin entertainments micro focus international mondi morrisons national grid next old mutual paddy power betfair pearson persimmon polymetal international provident prudential randgold resources royal bank of scotland reckitt benckiser relx group rio tinto group rolls royce royal dutch shell royal mail rsa insurance group sage group j sainsbury schroders severn trent shire sky smith & nephew smiths group sse standard chartered standard life st. james s place taylor wimpey tesco travis perkins tui unilever united utilities vodafone whitbread wolseley worldpay wpp v t e european retail round table members asda c & a carrefour delhaize group el corte ingl s h & m ikea inditex jer nimo martins kingfisher marks & spencer mercadona metro ag ahold tesco retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title kingfisher plc & oldid 740454276 categories british companies established in 1982kingfisher plccompanies listed on the london stock exchangecompanies based in londonhome improvement companies of the united kingdommultinational companies based in the city of londonhidden categories all articles with dead external linksarticles with dead external links from april 2011articles with wayback machine linksuse british english from november 2012use dmy dates from november 2012 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants 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