B&Q’s parent company has said it could open at least 50 small to medium-sized B&Q Local stores after recording a pre-tax profit drop of 20 per cent in its most recent financial year.

Kingfisher’s latest financials recorded a decline in like-for-like sales of over two cent compared to the previous year.

The home improvement retailer’s chief executive Thierry Garnier told the Guardian that the group has identified 50 locations where it could open Locals or one of its medium-sized 4,000-5,000 sq metre sites – compared with 12,000 sq metres for its traditional big boxes and 300-800 sq metres for the new High Street stores.

He added that the retailer already has eight B&Q local stores in London and that it is working on “perfecting the format” while scrutinising how it could better sell the likes of kitchens and bathrooms in the smaller outlets.

Garnier also told the Evening Standard that Kingfisher believes there is a worldwide trend across industries and countries for smaller store formats.

“This is due to the ageing population, this is due to the fact we are living more in cities, there are multiple demographics behind that,” he said.

The company said that its recent lower retail profits, which were down by just under a fifth from £1.1 billion in 2021 to £923 million last year, were largely driven by “very strong” prior year comparatives in the UK, Ireland, and France.

Earlier this year, Kingfisher said that Screwfix, which it also owns, was on track to achieve its ambition to open more than 1,000 stores.

The homeware retailer opened 87 stores in the past 12 months – 72 in the UK, 10 in the ROI, and five in France – to bring its total to over 870 stores.

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