Focus

Focus DIY is one of the leading DIY and Gardening retailers in the UK.

Operating over 175 stores from the north of Scotland to the tip of Cornwall we aim to be the store of choice and convenience for DIY and gardening products to consumers seeking to undertake light home improvement and maintenance projects.

We offer a broad range of own brand and branded products to decorate and enhance your home and garden as well as the tools to carry out the projects from paint, wallpaper, bathrooms and kitchens to power tools, building materials, plants and lawnmowers.

We have a loyal base of customers looking for choice and convenience at competitive prices and offer further savings to our over 60's and homemover customers.

History

We were founded by Bill Archer and a former business partner in 1987, and grew through a number of acquisitions, including acquisitions of Do It All Limited in 1998 and Great Mills in 2000. The new businesses were geographically complementary to our existing businesses, with minimal store overlap and a similar strategy of locating stores in market towns. Following these acquisitions, we rebranded all of the stores to the Focus brand. In addition, in September 2000, we acquired Wickes PLC, a business targeting trade customers. Since this acquisition we converted 39 Focus stores located outside our target markets to Wickes stores to improve their profitability.

On 11 February 2005, Wickes Limited was sold to Travis Perkins.

On 26th July 2007 Focus DIY was sold to Cerberus and Bill Grimsey was appointed CEO.

Key Dates:

1987 - Bill Archer and a former business partner acquired Choice DIY Limited, a small DIY retailer with six stores in the Midlands and the North.

1988 - Acquisition of the Focus chain of six DIY stores.All stores were rebranded 'Focus DIY'.

1988-1998 - Company had substantial organic growth, expanding from its base of 12 stores to 72 stores.

1998 - Acquisition of Do It All (Holdings) Limited with 139 stores.All stores were rebranded as 'Focus Do It All' ('FDIA') and Focus became one of the largest DIY retailers in the UK, with 210 stores.

Sept 2000 - Acquisition into the heavy DIY segment with the purchase of Wickes plc and 131 stores.

Dec 2000 - Acquisition of Great Mills with 98 stores further strengthening its position in the light DIY segment.

2001 - All former Focus Do It All and Great Mills stores (other than the seven 'No Frills' stores) were rebranded 'Focus'. Wickes stores continued to operate under the brand name 'Wickes'.

2002 - Focus Wickes group emerged as the 2nd largest DIY retailer in the UK in terms of turnover and had 430 stores (Focus 291 and Wickes 139).

Feb 2005 - Wickes Limited sold to Travis Perkins.

January 2007 - appointment of Rothschild to advise the Board of future options for the Group.

26 July 2007 - sold to a company backed by funds and/or managed accounts affiliated with Cerberus.

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