Rochdale Bunnings spared from closure

Home improvement retailer Bunnings – formerly Homebase – has spared its Rochdale warehouse store from the axe after announcing it was to close around 40 others.

This follows reported losses of £97m in the first half of the year.

Homebase was bought by Australian company Wesfarmers, which also runs Bunnings stores, for £340m in 2016.

It has since been making changes to the DIY shop’s model but has resulted in £584m worth of writedowns.

In an unscheduled investor update, the company said that it was reviewing the Homebase and Bunnings business after taking a £454m non-cash impairment on the acquisition, along with £37m of write-downs of “excess, unsuitable and display” stock, £40m on store closure provisions, and a £53m hit on deferred tax assets.

Bunnings Warehouse officially opened its doors in Rochdale on January 3, creating more than 80 full and part-time jobs.

The new store in Sandbrook Park, is the biggest Bunnings Warehouse yet at more than 110,000 sq ft.

It is one of 17 stores across the UK which will remain open.