B&Q to close Motherwell store

Last March the DIY giant’s owner Kingfisher announced it was planning to close a total of 60 B&Q stores over two years.

This is part of the group’s restructuring of its UK and Ireland business after it posted a 7.5 per cent fall in annual profits to £675 million after sales fell by 1.4 per cent to £11 billion in 2014.

40 stores including branches in Dundee, Southampton, Belfast and Cardiff has already been earmarked for closure and now Motherwell has been confirmed for the axe.

The store in Braidhurst Industrial Estate has been open for more than 30 years and the Times & Speaker understands up to 100 full and part-time jobs will be affected.

A B&Q spokesperson commented: “We have let colleagues at our Motherwell store know that their store is one of those planned for closure next financial year.

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

Motherwell and Wishaw MP Marion Fellows called the news ‘devastating’.

She said: “I am saddened to hear of this news, B&Q has been a fixture in the town for so many years and to lose so many jobs is just devastating.

“It is a really handy store, but unfortunately it seems a sign of the times that people either don’t have the money for DIY projects or they are increasingly buying online.

“My heart goes out to everyone affected and is another blow Motherwell didn’t need, especially following so soon on the heels of another major employer the Dalzell Works closing.”