In 1969, two men called Richard Block and David Quayle converted a disused cinema building in Southampton into a DIY store. Four decades on, B&Q has 360 stores across the UK & Ireland and is part of Kingfisher Group, the leading home improvement and garden centre retailer in Europe and the third largest in the world. The orange apron is now symbolic of the brand we all grew up with and B&Q continues to thrive as a multichannel retailer, offering 40,000 inspirational products to help customers create better homes by making home improvement easier.
Life at B&Q
At B&Q our core purpose is ‘better homes, better lives’ so we’re not just here to sell products, we’re here to help our customers improve their homes and, in turn, their lives. The ‘can do’ spirit of our teams means that we continuously focus on making things easier for our customers. In many of our stores we have four generations working under one roof and every day our people unleash their talent, potential and unique personalities to create an exciting, vibrant environment and a strong sense of community among our staff and for the 3 million customers shopping in our stores each week.
Opportunities
You could say that inspiring people to fulfil their potential is what we do best, whether it's in the workplace or in the home. We’re proud that we were the first retailer in the world to win the Gallup Worldwide Award for outstanding employee engagement. Our policy to promote from within and to develop existing teams helps create that unique B&Q culture, where people are not just given the chance to thrive but the support they need to make it a reality. We work hard to create development opportunities through our accelerated learning schemes. Our ‘Aspire’ programme gives our retail managers valuable time away from the day-to-day to explore their career aspirations, drive their own development and be recognised as leadership role models throughout the business.
Staying ahead of the curve…
At B&Q we’re committed to making a difference and we’re constantly working to remain at the forefront of innovation through our One Planet Home initiative.
Since 2006, our achievements in sustainability include a 29% reduction in carbon emissions, which is the equivalent of taking 100,000 cars off the road each year and we’ve reduced the amount of waste that goes to landfill by 90%. We also became a founding member of the FSC in 1993 to ensure that we could trace 100% of our timber back to sustainable sources. We’re proud to have been honoured with the Queen’s Award for our work in creating a more sustainable business and in helping our customers improve the sustainability of their homes.
In another innovative project, we’ve recently invested £60million in www.diy.com to ensure our colleagues and customers are using a state-of-the-art website that offers our best ever online shopping experience and is the most functionally advanced website of its kind in the UK. Together, this new website and our 360 stores represent the perfect marriage of online and in store shopping, ensuring we’re continuing to evolve big box retail for the digital era.
London’s Calling!
We have over 30 stores inside the M25 so we’re always looking for talented retail managers to join our team as Design Consultants, Department Trading Managers, Deputy Managers or Store Managers. Read more about life as a B&Q Manager Store Managers lead our store teams and play a hands-on role in creating an inspirational shopping environment for our customers. They are responsible for evaluating operational processes, maintaining high retail standards, developing talent and delivering profit growth through effective communication and practical leadership.
Deputy Managers play a key role in the store leadership team, motivating and coaching our store teams and creating an environment where our people and our business thrive by using their retail expertise to deliver the best shopping experience for our customers.
Department Trading Managers run a 'store within a store’, creating a vibrant place to work and shop. By engaging and motivating their teams, our Trading Managers help deliver market-leading customer service within each department and develop long-term sales growth in our stores.
Design Consultants work in our Showroom Team to inspire customers in the design of their kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms to transform their homes.
If you are customer-focused and enjoy achieving targets in a fast-paced working environment, you may be exactly the right person to be out there making a difference to our colleagues and our customers.
Rewards & Benefits
When we find the right people we believe in rewarding them well so we offer competitive salaries, amazing rewards and a bursting benefits package including store bonus schemes, pension, shares, a generous holiday allowance and of course the B&Q discount card!
What do the staff say about careers at B&Q?
“Leading my team and knowing that I’m responsible for running a store with over 160 people and a £22million turnover is what gets me out of bed in the morning!
Getting your team fired up and passionate about what you want to achieve and seeing the results of everyone working together is when you really feel you are making a difference.”
Matt, Store Manager
“I’ve come from a job where I wore high heels and dresses every day and now I get up each morning and put on my orange apron! We all know B&Q’s orange apron is famous for its heritage but for me, it really symbolises the type of leadership I connect with. A lot of our customers might not know that even our CEO wears an apron when he’s in a store. Having that humility in leadership and being really down to earth as a business is what I love about B&Q.”
Amanda, Store Manager
“I started at B&Q 10 years ago as a Customer Advisor in the Gardening and Flooring departments. I have since become a Showroom Leadtaker, then a TradePoint Supervisor and I’ve now found my niche as a Design Consultant. They often say you can have 10 careers in 1 at B&Q and I think my career path is a perfect example of that! The security of the B&Q brand gives me exposure to a huge amount of footfall and maximises my earning potential in my role.” –
Martin, Design Consultant
View the downloadable version of this article here
