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Some 300 jobs at Wincanton are at risk after operations were suspended following the news that Focus DIY and Do It All home stores have gone into administration.
Wincanton has worked for Focus for some 15 years, serving 181 Focus stores from its dedicated Tamworth site.
A Wincanton spokesperson said: “Wincanton can confirm that it has suspended all operations at the warehouse distribution centre in Tamworth where it has over 300 employees working on behalf of Focus.
“We are liaising with the appointed administrators, Ernst and Young, to agree next actions and to ensure that we can keep our affected employees updated during this very difficult time.”
The administrators will run the business under the Focus name until mid-July.
B&Q’s parent company Kingfisher has agreed to buy Focus DIY and Do It All stores for £23 million in cash, after Focus went into administration.
It plans to buy up to 31 leasehold properties. These will be refitted and opened as B&Q stores later in the year.
It is understood that the deal is purely for the properties and will not include a commitment to take on logistics and infrastructure contracts.
