The DIY retailer presently has 230 shops throughout the UK.
Wickes has introduced plans to open 70 new shops (Picture: Getty)
Wickes is making a serious change to its UK enterprise with plans to open 70 new shops and rent 2,000 extra employees.
In a buying and selling replace on Tuesday (March 17), the DIY chain, which presently operates 230 shops, stated it’s aiming to open 4 to 5 shops this yr, earlier than accelerating the opening programme to not less than 10 per yr from 2028. The retailer additionally desires to refresh 15 to twenty of its websites this yr and not less than 20 per yr from 2028. Wickes stated the openings intention to develop its retailer community to 300 websites nationwide and create greater than 2,000 jobs.
The plans come following the opening of 5 new shops final yr, 4 of which have been former Homebase websites, alongside three closures, two retailer refits and 9 refreshed shops.
Wickes unveiled the plans in its full yr outcomes for 2025 which confirmed underlying pre-tax earnings rose 14.4% to £49.9 million for the yr to December 27, whereas gross sales rose 5.9%, serving to offset rising value pressures.
Moreover, statutory pre-tax earnings greater than doubled to £48.7 million, up from £23.2 million the earlier yr.
Wickes stated buying and selling within the first 11 weeks of its new monetary yr has seen demand for out of doors DIY merchandise hit by moist climate, nevertheless it has seen continued quantity progress throughout indoor initiatives and its design and set up enterprise.
Shares within the agency lifted 4% in Tuesday morning buying and selling because the retailer stated it remained on monitor with full yr expectations for underlying pre-tax earnings to rise to £57.6 million in 2026.
Wickes additionally introduced a £10 million share buyback programme, along with £5-10m of purchases for worker share schemes anticipated throughout 2026.
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David Wooden, chief govt of Wickes, stated: “Given the power of funding returns from our confirmed retailer refit and new retailer rollout technique, we have now right now introduced the choice to speed up our funding for future progress.
“This takes our ambition to achieve 300 shops nationwide – creating over 2,000 new jobs as we carry Wickes’ distinctive provide to new places up and down the UK.”
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