Overview of the company

Wickes stores are designed to appeal to serious DIY customers, who carry out more complex projects, and tradesmen, who undertake general repairs, maintenance and improvement projects for households. These customers are more demanding in terms of service, quality and price. The Directors believe that Wickes meets these expectations by offering a targeted range of primarily own brand, competitively priced home improvement products, with particular emphasis on building products, such as timber, bricks and cement.

In addition, Wickes stores offer a range of kitchens, conservatories, bathrooms and bedrooms, which are sold through in-store showrooms. The Group's key objectives for its Wickes business are to achieve broader coverage in its target market and for Wickes to be established as the destination store for home improvement.

Company History

Wickes opened its first store in the UK in 1972 at Whitefield in Manchester. The concept was launched as a joint venture between the US group, Wickes Corporation, and the UK builders merchant, Sankeys.

In 1987, Wickes was floated on the London Stock Exchange. At that time the company was trading from 41 units in the UK.

In 1996, Wickes underwent a change of management followed by a rights issue and the sale of its European stores in 1997.

In September 2000, Wickes was acquired by the Focus Group. The majority of the key operational management was retained and remains with the business today.

Within the Focus Wickes Group, Wickes was able to grow significantly with an increase in store numbers from 131 at 29 October 2000 to 172 at 31 March 2004, including the conversion of 36 Focus outlets to Wickes stores.

In March 2003, the first of a new larger format store, Wickes Extra, was opened at Barking.

In February 2005 Wickes was acquired by Travis Perkins. For further information regarding the Travis Perkins group visit their website at www.travisperkins.co.uk.

Wickes now has a portfolio of 184 standard and 16 Extra stores, with a total net selling space of approximately 5.8 million square feet.