Battle · 4 companies
DIY and trade
Nailed it, or coming unstuck?
B&Q leads on 3 of the five measures that matter most: turnover, pre-tax profit, profit margin, growth and net assets. B&Q is the biggest by turnover at £3,686m, against £2,659m at Screwfix. Screwfix keeps the most of every £100 it takes, £9.20 as pre-tax profit.
The year ends are up to 12 months apart, so this compares each company's most recent filing rather than the same twelve months. Wickes files group accounts that include subsidiaries; Screwfix, Toolstation and B&Q file for a single company, which flatters the group on size.
Accounts compared: Screwfix to Jan 2026 · Toolstation to Dec 2025 · Wickes to Dec 2025 · B&Q to Jan 2025
The Numbers
| # | Company | Turnover | Change | Pre-tax profit | Margin | Employees | Pay per head | Turnover per head | Net assets | Bank and cash | Accounts to | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B&QB&Q Limited | £3,686m | -0.8% | £259m | 7.0% | 20,019 | £26,000 | £184,000 | £2,481m | £27m | Jan 2025 | Single company |
| 2 | ScrewfixScrewfix Direct Limited | £2,659m | +4.7% | £245m | 9.2% | 12,877 | £28,000 | £206,000 | £603m | £21m | Jan 2026 | Single company |
| 3 | WickesWickes Group PLC | £1,636m | +6.3% | £49m | 3.0% | 7,769 | £33,000 | £211,000 | £131m | £92m | Dec 2025 | Group |
| 4 | ToolstationToolstation Limited | £745m | +3.4% | £37m | 4.9% | 5,274 | £27,000 | £141,000 | £147m | £3m | Dec 2025 | Single company |
Ranked by turnover. Click any column to sort. The leader on each measure is highlighted. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.).
Category winners
The Takeaway
- Screwfix converts the most of its turnover. Of every £100, £9.20 reaches pre-tax profit, against £2.98 at Wickes.
- B&Q is the largest on the top line, £3,686m of turnover, 1.4x Screwfix's £2,659m.
- Wickes is growing fastest, turnover +6.3% on its own prior year. B&Q went backwards.
- B&Q is the biggest employer with 20,019 people; Wickes pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £33,000.
- B&Q has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £2,481m, while Wickes holds the most cash at £92m.
Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?
Screwfix keeps the most: £9.20 of every £100 of turnover becomes pre-tax profit. Wickes keeps the least, £2.98.
Every profit figure here is the one the company filed.
The chart splits each company's turnover into £100: what goes on people, on interest and on everything else, and what is left as profit.
Out of every £100 of turnover
Each column is £100 of that company's own turnover, so companies of any size compare on one scale; the figures are pounds out of each £100, not millions. Companies run from the best margin to the worst. Payroll is staff costs, financing is interest paid, other running costs are everything else, and profit is pre-tax profit, filed or estimated as marked in the table. A loss is not an extra cost: it is the part of the costs that runs past the £100 line, marked with a red bracket. Hover over any segment for its figure.
Who is the biggest, and does the comparison hold?
By turnover the order is B&Q (£3,686m), Screwfix (£2,659m), Wickes (£1,636m), Toolstation (£745m).
By headcount, B&Q leads with 20,019 employees.
The comparison holds with the dates stated plainly: Screwfix to Jan 2026, Toolstation to Dec 2025, Wickes to Dec 2025, B&Q to Jan 2025. The bases differ: group accounts include the businesses a company owns, single-company accounts do not.
Turnover on the latest filing
Who is growing fastest?
Wickes grew fastest, turnover +6.3% on its own prior year, ahead of Screwfix (+4.7%), Toolstation (+3.4%), B&Q (-0.8%).
Turnover change on each company's own prior year
Who employs the most, who pays the most, and who brings in the most per head?
B&Q employs the most, 20,019 people, against 12,877 at Screwfix.
Wickes has the highest average staff cost, about £33,000 a head; B&Q the lowest, about £26,000.
Wickes brings in the most turnover per employee, about £211,000, against £141,000 at Toolstation. It says as much about the business model as the workforce: a marketplace or a wholesaler needs far fewer people per pound than a restaurant or a gym.
Screwfix
12,877
employees, about £28,000 pay a head, £206,000 turnover a head, -0.9% on the year
Toolstation
5,274
employees, about £27,000 pay a head, £141,000 turnover a head, +0.6% on the year
Wickes
7,769
employees, about £33,000 pay a head, £211,000 turnover a head, -0.1% on the year
B&Q
20,019
employees, about £26,000 pay a head, £184,000 turnover a head, -6.8% on the year
Who owns each one?
Ownership as recorded on the Companies House register of people with significant control, in the bands the register uses.
Held by Kingfisher International Holdings Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control.
Who owns Screwfix →
Toolstation Limited · 04372131Held by Toolstation Holdings Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control. 2 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Toolstation →
Wickes Group PLC · 12189061Owned by its shareholders
Listed on the London Stock Exchange, so no single controller appears on the register. 2 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Wickes →
B&Q Limited · 00973387Held by Kingfisher France Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control. 7 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns B&Q →
What does the full ledger show?
| Measure | Screwfix | Toolstation | Wickes | B&Q |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registered name | SCREWFIX DIRECT LIMITED | TOOLSTATION LIMITED | WICKES GROUP PLC | B&Q LIMITED |
| Company number | 03006378 | 04372131 | 12189061 | 00973387 |
| Incorporated | 1995 | 2002 | 2019 | 1970 |
| Accounts filed | 28 July 2026 | 21 June 2026 | n/d | 30 September 2025 |
| Turnover, prior year | £2,539m | £720m | £1,539m | £3,716m |
| Pre-tax profit, prior year | £220m | £20m | £23m | £169m |
| Staff costs | £356m | £142m | £258m | £511m |
| Payroll share of turnover | 13.4% | 19.1% | 15.8% | 13.9% |
| Employees, prior year | 12,992 | 5,243 | 7,774 | 21,478 |
| Dividends paid | £350m | £21m | £25m | n/d |
| Charges outstanding | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d; a zero in a filing is treated as not disclosed. Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, above that to the nearest million.
DIY and trade: common questions
Who is the biggest of Screwfix, Toolstation, Wickes or B&Q?
B&Q, with turnover of £3,686m in the year to January 2025.
Which makes the most profit?
B&Q: £259m pre-tax in the year to January 2025.
Which employs the most people?
B&Q, with 20,019 employees in its latest accounts.
Screwfix or Toolstation: which is bigger?
Screwfix, with turnover of £2,659m against £745m at Toolstation on their latest filings. On margin, Screwfix keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →
Screwfix or Wickes: which is bigger?
Screwfix, with turnover of £2,659m against £1,636m at Wickes on their latest filings. On margin, Screwfix keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Screwfix or B&Q: which is bigger?
B&Q, with turnover of £3,686m against £2,659m at Screwfix on their latest filings. On margin, Screwfix keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Toolstation or Wickes: which is bigger?
Wickes, with turnover of £1,636m against £745m at Toolstation on their latest filings. On margin, Toolstation keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Toolstation or B&Q: which is bigger?
B&Q, with turnover of £3,686m against £745m at Toolstation on their latest filings. On margin, B&Q keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Wickes or B&Q: which is bigger?
B&Q, with turnover of £3,686m against £1,636m at Wickes on their latest filings. On margin, B&Q keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Where do these figures come from?
Each company's latest accounts filed at Companies House. Each links to its full Spark Intel profile, which names the filing it comes from.
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