B&Q to close Exeter’s Alphington Road store

DIY-heavyweight B&Q is to close its store off Alphington Road, Exeter, with the loss of 40 jobs.

It raises the prospect of the store having no presence in the city as a planning application has gone in to demolish its much larger store in Sowton for a retail park.

Commenting of the Alphington Road closure a B&Q spokesperson said: “We have let colleagues at our Exeter store know that their store is one of those planned for closure next financial year (2016/17).

“Our focus for the coming months is on re-deploying as many colleagues as we can within B&Q and the Kingfisher Group.”

There are around 40 people currently employed at Exeter store.

In March the company’s owners Kingfisher bosses warned that with annual profits down by £75m, a total of 60 B&Q’s across the UK were set to close over the next two years.

The shake-up is being overseen by new chief executive, Véronique Laury, days after a failed takeover bid of French B&Q equivalent Mr Bricolage.

Source : Exeter Express and Echo
www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/Exeter-s-Alphington-Road-B-Q-close-loss-40-jobs/story-27945914-detail/story.html