A retail tycoon dubbed the ‘Del Boy Billionaire’ is set to swoop in to save troubled DIY chain Homebase after it prepared to call in the administrators.
Chris Dawson, who owns The Range, became one of Britain’s richest men as he amassed a retail empire – despite claiming to be so poor as a child he didn’t own his first pair of underpants until he was 12.
Reports suggest he is lining up a deal to fold 70 of the home improvement stores into his business in a move that could save 1,600 jobs – and could snap up the Homebase brand and its website in a £30million deal.
Mr Dawson pulled a similar move last September after agreeing to buy the Wilko name, website and intellectual property – entitling him to use the Wilko brand as he sees fit – for £5million after the British homeware chain collapsed.
Homebase owners Hilco, who bought the firm for a token £1 in 2018, announced this morning it was appointing insolvency experts after reporting an £84.2 million loss last year.
The firm’s collapse could sound the death knell for another British high street chain after beloved brands including BHS, Wilko, Debenhams, The Body Shop and CarpetRight ran into financial trouble.
The Range is considering buying 75 stores as part of a process where a business sells its assets before administration, in a move which could save 1,500 jobs. Pictured is boss Chris Dawson
Homebase looks to be heading for administration, with the garden chain appointing insolvency experts which could mean jobs and 130 shops are at risk. File photo
Damian McGloughlin, the managing director of Homebase, told suppliers in August it would begin an ‘active sale process’ to seek new investment
Damian McGloughlin, the managing director of Homebase, told suppliers in August it would begin an ‘active sale process’ to seek new investment.
According to Sky News, The Range is considering buying 75 stores as part of a process where a business sells its assets before administration, in a move which could save 1,500 jobs.
But up to 1,000 staff are still at risk of being made redundant unless buyers for the remaining stores can be found.
Although no immediate redundancies are expected, around 34 remaining Homebase stores are at risk of closure – where there are 500 staff.
Sainsbury’s bought 10 stores and there are talks of selling a further 10 to rivals Wickes and Topps.
Mr Dawson told The Telegraph he is ‘delighted to be able to save so many stores and jobs’.
Homebase was co-founded by Sainsbury’s in the late 1970s as the supermarket chain looked to diversify its business.
But after Sainsbury’s sold off the firm in the early 2000s it formed part of the Home Retail Group empire, with Argos and Habitat for stablemates.
In 2016, Australian firm Wesfarmers paid £340m for Homebase – and proceeded to run it in baffling fashion.
The entire senior management team was fired, and Wesfarmers tried to lump Brits with Australian sales tactics – including selling barbeques in winter.
A consignment of mole traps was also sent to Ireland for sale – despite the country having no moles.
The firm lost £420m under Wesfarmers’ ownership after posting a £24m operating profit the year before it was bought over. Wesfarmers, humiliated, sold it to current owners Hilco for just £1.
Mr Dawson is now at the helm of 213 chains nationwide and visits ten per day in his personalised helicopter (seen above)
Mr Dawson has described The Range as a poor man’s John Lewis in the past
But the ‘Del Boy Billionaire’ may be Homebase’s saviour and currently resides at number 70 on the Sunday Times Rich List.
The moniker is due to his distinctive DE11 BOY number plate on his £350,000 Rolls-Royce Wraith coupe.
Mr Dawson, 71, also managed to save part of beloved High Street chain Wilko after finalising a deal to buy the name, website and intellectual property for £5m last year.
His incredible story epitomises the rags to riches tale that seems to dominate the world of British business.
He makes no secret of his unabashed desire to be filthy rich, once telling the Mail that as each person comes into his shop he thinks ‘kerching, kerching, kerching!’
His humble beginnings saw him and his two brothers raised on a council estate in Plymouth, with their labourer father Thomas and his cleaner mother, Elsie.
Prospects were bleak – his younger brother still lives in the same house – and money was so sparse that he did not own his first pair of pants until he was 12.
As a boy, he struggled academically and was so severely dyslexic that he left school without a single qualification, unable to read and write.
Mr Dawson started life on the market stall in Plymouth (pictured) and used to sell upcycled furniture and scrap metal to punters
Wheeler dealer: The Range – which was set up by Chris Dawson (pictured) – finalised a deal to buy the Wilko name, website and intellectual property for £5m
‘Dyslexic is a polite way of putting it, I just didn’t have a bloody clue,’ he told the Telegraph.
It wasn’t until he was 27 that Mr Dawson learned how to read. However, even at the age of 64, he still cannot write.
He struggles to understand the sat navs on his fleet of luxury cars and admits sometimes pretending to forget his glasses when checking into a hotel so he doesn’t have to fill out his form.
But it is clear that his business brain was switched on from a young age.
The budding entrepreneur started selling ice-creams at the age of seven, before taking on three paper rounds – two of which he subcontracted to friends.
He also earned money by doing early-morning wake-up calls for military officers in his garrison home town of Plymouth and began selling teas to builders on construction sites at the age of 14.
He later embarked on a career as a scrap metal dealer, ‘borrowing’ leftover scraps from his school technology class.
He is a self-confessed workaholic, sleeping only six hours per day and admitting he does nothing to relax, except work.
He reportedly does not have a work email and instead communicates with employees in a regular early-morning conference calls, ensuring he is physically and metaphorically everywhere in the business at all times.
Sainsbury’s (stock image) agreed to acquire 10 Homebase shops and convert them into supermarkets in a deal which is anticipated to create around 1,000 new jobs
A map showing the 10 locations set for conversion into Sainsbury’s
In 2015 he was said to have left grieving relatives ‘distraught’ after his car blocked a body from being taken into a funeral home.
The deceased’s body had just been collected from hospital and driven to an undertakers in Plymouth, Devon.
But when the private ambulance arrived a Range Rover belonging to Mr Dawson was discovered parked outside the clearly marked entrance meaning the ambulance couldn’t be reversed in.
The Range later ‘apologised for any inconvenience’ the vehicle had caused.
In August, Sainsbury’s agreed to acquire 10 Homebase stores and convert them into supermarkets in a deal which is anticipated to create around 1,000 new jobs.
The locations set for conversion are located in Sutton Coldfield, Bromsgrove, Cromer, Derry/Londonderry, Fareham, Inverurie, Lowestoft, Newark, Omagh and Rugby.
Simon Roberts, chief executive officer of Sainsbury’s said: ‘Sainsbury’s food business continues to go from strength to strength as we push ahead with our Next Level Sainsbury’s plan.
‘We have the best combination of value and quality in the market and that’s winning us customers from all our key competitors and driving consistent growth in volume market share.
‘We want to build on this momentum which is why we are growing our supermarket footprint.
‘Our ambition is to be customers’ first choice for food and these new stores will showcase some of the best that Sainsbury’s supermarkets have to offer to even more communities around the country.’
Susannah Streeter head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘It’s been tough going in the home renovation market, as consumers have tightened their belts amid high borrowing costs.
‘Even though interest rates have begun to come down, homeowners have been ultra cautious, with bigger ticket items hard to shift. Some consumers appear to have been ring-fencing spending for holidays and experiences rather than major makeovers.
‘Although a spurt of better weather later in the summer is likely to have helped propel sales of seasonal ranges, any improvement will have just been a sticking plaster on deeper rooted issues at Homebase. In the DIY space it’s faced tough competition from the likes of Kingfisher owned B&Q and Wickes which have also faced challenges in the market, but recently revealed guidance showing improvements.
‘If the price is right though, shoppers are willing to splash the cash and value orientated chains like B&M European Value Retail and Home Bargains have been faring better.
‘The Range appears to have found a recipe for success with its pile ’em high, sell ’em cheaper approach to homewares, and appears to be mulling expanding its footprint by taking a chunk of Homebase stores. The future for others remains uncertain, although there may be other takers in the ‘value’ end of the home market, who could swoop in with a cut-price offer.’