Sign up to the daily Business Today email or follow Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk“Homebase is undoubtedly the most disastrous retail acquisition in the UK ever,” says GlobalData’s retail analyst, Patrick O’Brien. “The double bank holiday is extremely important for DIY retail because it sets the tone for spring/summer,” he says. Perth-based Wesfarmers, one of Australia’s biggest companies, bought Homebase for £340m two years ago, but by Christmas the heavy losses emerging from its UK outpost had become untenable. A third route would be to keep the 23 converted Bunnings stores open and close the rest. “Bunnings wholly underestimated the complexity of the UK market,” says Richard Lim, chief executive of Retail Economics.

Source: The Guardian March 30, 2018 10:49 UTC