VS Series
B&Q v The Range and Homebase
The DIY shed against the everything store
B&Q leads on 4 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 £1,472m at The Range and Homebase. B&Q keeps more of every £100 it takes, £7.03 as pre-tax profit.
The year ends are close enough to compare like for like. The Range and Homebase files group accounts that include subsidiaries; B&Q files for a single company, which flatters the group on size.
Accounts compared: B&Q to Jan 2025 · The Range and Homebase to Feb 2025
Who they are
B&Q
B&Q Limited · 00973387B&Q is a home improvement and garden retailer that sells DIY products, tools, building materials, kitchens, bathrooms, paint and outdoor goods.In brief: DIY and home improvement retailer · over 300 UK and Ireland stores · since 1969 · part of KingfisherFull profile →The Range and Homebase
CDS (Superstores International) Limited · 02699203The Range is a home, garden and leisure retailer that sells furniture, bedding, curtains, crafts, DIY, garden and pet products.In brief: home, garden and leisure superstores · founded in Plymouth 1989 · part of CDS with Homebase and wilko · stores and onlineFull profile →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 | The Range and HomebaseCDS (Superstores International) Limited | £1,472m | +13.5% | £0.5m | 0.0% | 12,639 | £17,000 | £116,000 | £313m | £41m | Feb 2025 | Group |
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
- B&Q converts the most of its turnover. Of every £100, £7.03 reaches pre-tax profit, against £0.04 at The Range and Homebase.
- B&Q is the largest on the top line, £3,686m of turnover, 2.5x The Range and Homebase's £1,472m.
- The Range and Homebase is growing fastest, turnover +13.5% on its own prior year. B&Q went backwards.
- B&Q is the biggest employer with 20,019 people; B&Q pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £26,000.
- B&Q has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £2,481m, while The Range and Homebase holds the most cash at £41m.
Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?
B&Q keeps the most: £7.03 of every £100 of turnover becomes pre-tax profit. The Range and Homebase keeps the least, £0.04.
Financing bites hardest at The Range and Homebase: £3.56 of every £100 goes on interest.
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), The Range and Homebase (£1,472m).
By headcount, B&Q leads with 20,019 employees.
The accounting periods all end in the same month. 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?
The Range and Homebase grew fastest, turnover +13.5% on its own prior year, ahead of 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 12,639 at The Range and Homebase.
B&Q has the highest average staff cost, about £26,000 a head; The Range and Homebase the lowest, about £17,000.
B&Q brings in the most turnover per employee, about £184,000, against £116,000 at The Range and Homebase. 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.
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 France Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control. 7 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns B&Q →
CDS (Superstores International) Limited · 02699203Held by Norton Group Holdings Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control.
Who owns The Range and Homebase →
What does the full ledger show?
| Measure | B&Q | The Range and Homebase |
|---|---|---|
| Registered name | B&Q LIMITED | CDS (SUPERSTORES INTERNATIONAL) LIMITED |
| Company number | 00973387 | 02699203 |
| Incorporated | 1970 | 1992 |
| Accounts filed | 30 September 2025 | 8 October 2025 |
| Turnover, prior year | £3,716m | £1,297m |
| Pre-tax profit, prior year | £169m | -£23m |
| Staff costs | £511m | £218m |
| Payroll share of turnover | 13.9% | 14.8% |
| Employees, prior year | 21,478 | 12,238 |
| Dividends paid | n/d | n/d |
| Charges outstanding | 7 | 0 |
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.
B&Q v The Range and Homebase: common questions
Who is the biggest of B&Q or The Range and Homebase?
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.
B&Q or The Range and Homebase: which is bigger?
B&Q, with turnover of £3,686m against £1,472m at The Range and Homebase on their latest filings. On margin, B&Q keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →
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.