The future of DIY chain Homebase could finally be resolved this week as Australian owner Wesfarmers seeks to end its association with the UK retail sector.
Investment firms Alteri, Hilco and Endless are in the bidding to buy Homebase from Wesfarmers just two years after it purchased the chain for £340m.
Homebase employs 11,000 staff across over 200 stores. Potential restructuring could put thousands of jobs at risk as a result of store closures.
Analysis from Radius Data Exchange suggests that Homebase’s UK footprint covers around 9.6m sq ft.
This follows on from a tumultuous period in the retail sector following CVAs and store closures by Mothercare, Toys ‘R’ Us and Carpetright. New Look and Marks & Spencer have also announced store closures.
EG’s Radius Data Exchange recently revealed 7.1m sq ft of retail space is set to be vacated across the retail and leisure sector.
What does this mean for the big box retail sector?
Kingfisher, owner of B&Q, the UK’s largest DIY chain, closed 60 stores back in 2015. Many of the units were reconfigured into new schemes and taken by value retailers and discount supermarket chains. Residential developers lodged plans for the remainder.
While much of the space in retail parks will be suitable for expanding discounters such as B&M, Aldi and Lidl, there is concern that the retail closures in one subsector could leave some landlords struggling to fill the space.
And with the likes of the value and fashion brands such Primark already taking swathes of empty BHS stores, and expected to take many M&S locations, landlords may struggle to fill the voids.
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