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B&Q staff prepare to say goodbye after 25 years at Kingsway East

The B&Q at Kingsway East.
The B&Q at Kingsway East.

The B&Q superstore at Kingsway East in Dundee will close for good on Saturday with the loss of as many as 20 jobs.

The DIY giant will quit the property as its lease expires, with landlords understood to have decided upon a change of direction for the unit.

It will be replaced by a B&M Homestore, with the discount retailer expecting to begin trading in the autumn.

Though long on the cards, the closure comes as a huge blow to staff at the B&Q store, some of whom have worked there since it opened almost 25 years ago.

Employee Robert Downwell is one of five employees who have been there since day one and said he was saddened to be moving on.

“It is a sad day but it is just one of those things,” he told The Courier. “I only work there part-time but I’ve been there since it first opened its doors.

“Hopefully most of the staff will be moved about so they won’t lose their work.”

B&Q divisional director Scott Sharp said: “We have enjoyed a fantastic 24 years at East Kingsway and this success is all down to the commitment and enthusiasm of those, past and present, who have worked at the store.

“It will be sad to see the store go and we fully understand that this is a time of uncertainty for many of our colleagues at East Kingsway.

“We are endeavouring to find alternative roles for as many of them as possible.”

B&Q will continue to serve customers in the area at its stores on Dundee’s Kings Cross Road and Arbroath’s Westway Retail Park.

The retailer said “a number” of staff members would transfer to other stores but it is understood the future of 20 of the 28 jobs at the store remain uncertain.

Site owners Threadneedle Investments signalled their intention to replace B&Q as far back as 2011, it is understood.

It had been marketing the site for months in a bid to introduce an element of food sale into the retail mix but required an appeal to the Scottish Government to secure permission for B&M to offer its full range of goods.

The retailer sells food, confectionery, drink, toys and clothes and already has a store in the Wellgate Centre.

B&M Retail said it was too early to confirm how many jobs would be created by the opening.

Meanwhile, soft furnishing seller Harry Corry has been in negotiations with the same landlords over its continued presence on the Kingsway East retail park.

The store has been running down its stock in recent weeks with signs outside describing an “end of lease sale” but a spokesman for the firm said talks were ongoing, with the chain keen to stay.