Published prior to March 2014
Sad to see anoter great improvement/garden retailer go; although that's want Home Retail Group want. Some great plants etc.
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Published prior to March 2014
Totally agree with last comment , make a house a home ! Make ur life ur own !!
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Published prior to March 2014
By To those that are still to go
After 20 years service and nine months out I can say that there is more to life than Homebase. Find you opportunity now, don't wait to be done to, manage your own exit and Enjoy the future.
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Published prior to March 2014
Heard grimsby HOMEBASE is shutting soon ?
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Published prior to March 2014
There is no guarantee that Bedford will be closing in the near future. The business seems to be trying to run smaller turnover stores with satelite managers as a way of cost saving. The view of the world is if this doesn't work they will put another Manager back into those stores. If you read most of the posts on this thread they are mainly speculation and non factual. It would be great if when making statements you consider the employees within the store/ company.
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Published prior to March 2014
The Bedford store on rope walk is definately set to close now the new potential buyers and landlords have agreed a long debate on a potential sale.
Management and all staff the company has wanted to keep have been moved to different stores and are not to be replaced but rather covered until they close.
I feel sorry for the staff working there as there will be no notice once sold.
There's even talks the manager has been shippped out and they will have a stand in manager who will be covering both stores until the inevitable.
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Published prior to March 2014
Glad to report that the upheaval has begun Echo will not be taking prisioners.
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Published prior to March 2014
This thread looks to be in decline, no more regular posts being added - no news about HB and HRG.
I know a store near pompey down south is closing and thats about it. The company may well be sold but thats no different to anywhere else.
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Published prior to March 2014
dose now if hb has being sold
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Published prior to March 2014
Some good numbers , over 5% lfl space v space even allowing for trade transfer still has to be 3% lfl
B and Q minus 1.7%
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Published prior to March 2014
At least make the effort to use spell check before posting , what new closure news???
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Published prior to March 2014
hi more news clos stone I thing head office
need sort out
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Published prior to March 2014
Suggest you may want to invest in some English lessons, as prospective employers will not be impressed with your spelling on any job applications.
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Published prior to March 2014
I would like to clarify that "Mr Homebase" and I are not the same person and his views are not my views! Having said that to further expand on his views on Acting Managers there are a number of instances of Managers appointed having been rapidly promoted up the hierarchy. So although they are not " Acting" I would question whether all of them would be running stores if they were Core as opposed to non Core. Good luck to them and it looks great on their cvs when they inevitably have to leave once they realise what is happening or hang on for redundancy. I am sure some merit the status but in many cases a non Core store will have no chance of becoming a core store as the Manager lacks the experience to make any real difference. It's a self fulfilling prophecy endorsed by cynical senior Management to ensure trouble free caretaking at lowish cost until closure.
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Published prior to March 2014
Wight clos we told and more to come get you
ace sort out head officr
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Published prior to March 2014
Mr H, it seems the Leadership are in a no win situation, they have been clear on non core and core in terms of longevity , Regions are not shrinking further but they will change again naturally if the business sells or disposes of 40 more units this calendar year, as to running on acting that will happen if a store is likely to go sooner rather than later although the majority of stores I know are run by manager not acting , the company is still recruiting .
if you go back to the beginning of this thread most were saying the business is too big, to many stores thats being addressed but you can't do that without without losing people
The prices are too high , thats not yet been addressed but will cost money
Stores are old and battered, not yet addressed
They have made more profit excluding property deals than last year from less stores , now they must continue disposal then invest in price and store appearance and drive a better service level , question is will they
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Published prior to March 2014
I have heard the regions are shrinking more so more key staff going regionally , also core stores are the future but if ur in a non core your not ur just waiting to go and will be run by team of ACTING management !!! Ur good but your not Gd enough!!!
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Published prior to March 2014
No news don't now going on but hb
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Published prior to March 2014
Is there any more news on stores closing ?
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Published prior to March 2014
Yes would guest so not good time hb wish sort act out
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Published prior to March 2014
Does the current round of closures affect the management team in addition to staff .
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Published prior to March 2014
Homebase Leytonstone will officially cease trading on 23rd May 2015...end of the Texas conception for DIY enthusiasts in the local area. Store cannot reserve any items as head office have told staff not to, and that it is first come first serve! Outrageous decision, amongst others, by head office management who do not know how businesses should run.
Great store, great staff, great atmosphere...shame to see it go.
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Published prior to March 2014
Yes comp need them sort out what a joke
heed office sort out lost staff
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Published prior to March 2014
Cannot believe there is a company out there that treats their staff so poorly. All the company care about is there profits.anyone being made redundant don't worry, you are too good for this ancient relic of a company.
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Published prior to March 2014
From what was said at the WG Huddle this week, the core stores are said to be 200 and they know who they are, the others are non core and closures and every store should or would know what they are classed under. If your a core store then you are said to be "safe"! I use the quotes and exclamation marks because with a new MD at Homebase the whole game could change again so who really knows whats safe, whats going and so on.
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Published prior to March 2014
Not sure who this Robin is but seems to be talking rubbish.
Folkestone is getting an Argos concession so won't be closing neither is Westwood Cross. Ashford Kent has already gone a few years before.
As for Canterbury, I asked the staff if it's closing. They didn't know and had not been told anything. If it was closing and in consultation don't you think they would be told.
Your comments are really quite nasty and worrying for the staff. I use Canterbury Kent a lot which is now the main retail focus for East Kent with many chains closing in other Homebase towns remaining here. The site isn't worth a lot and it's dated and on a cheap lease and trades well.
I hope Homebase remain in Canterbury or merge the Homebase store with one Argos store to have a concession within.
Some of Homebase's staff is expensive but some other DIY stores are no better.
You should really stop gossiping over store closures unless you really do know what you are on about. It's not nice for the staff nor is it nice for the customers to read such things.
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Published prior to March 2014
I thing that head office need need them. out
want now why clos stone
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Published prior to March 2014
With this core and non core plus doomed stores any new list of closures will have to follow thoses gradings - if not and core stores start to close then we are back to square one.
I agree career prospects at HB are dire.
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Published prior to March 2014
This is a business that for years has traded on the goodwill of many colleagues, these colleagues have either brought others along with them to achieve the required result or filled gaps themselves because failure was not an option, they did it because they believed they had a future with the business, when the business itself fails to have a future and has plans to reduce the estate to c170 stores people start to question their goodwill !
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Published prior to March 2014
By no aspirations in this company, no set goals. s
Does anyone have any reliable information on when the next wave of closures will be?
Im deliberating leaving but may stay to take redundancy if it comes along soonish.
There is no emphisis in promoting staff or any drive to get the most out of people in this company and I've slowly lost all care in working for this company.
Promote others who don't don't achieve but have their noses so far up there, but leave the achievers behind.
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Published prior to March 2014
I know that my local store doesn't follow liberation - but puts on a front if the RM or the like are due in to visit, stock and jobs being done during the day and why not thats what other retailers do like Tesco, Asda and Wickes.
Greeters and such are fine if you have someone to spare - which you don't.
HB needs to get back to basics and sort out what it stands for - at the moments its a mixed bag of diy (sort of in a funny way) and 'home' products like highly priced door stops and boring cushions oh and the same old garden furniture and BBQs from past years - I wonder what they manage to sell to keep going?
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Published prior to March 2014
Company really is in a mess.
Paint us a picture is a joke - with the majority of stores cheating. By cheating I mean the store managers and CEMs asking staff to do it - I am a manager and this is common place.
Liberation - most stores are no longer following, meet and greet reduced to 4 hours if you're lucky and stock being put out throughout the day. Again if you are sticking to liberation you are laughed at.
Stores are actively cheating on stock takes in a BIG way and profit protection reps turn a blind eye because it helps their KPIs.
Not a disgruntled employee - these practices are common place and will signify the demise of our business.
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Published prior to March 2014
Now its the new HB year wonder if the core/non core stores will change?
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Published prior to March 2014
Homebase is lost,there is no doubt about it. Its too wooley and the Managers that were true leaders have left the stinking sinking ship of confusion to aid a better business.This company is now headed up by "Leaders" who have less experience than ever before,these people live and breathe "management speak" and jargon that is the same regurgitated bile that has been rolled out by previous weak feeble senior managers who have now left the business with payoffs whilst the staff at the coal face have been left to fester in the mire of putridness..
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Published prior to March 2014
The RMs will be reduced has there are less stores and the regions will have to be redrawn, some stores wil move to nextdoor regions, others no change non core verses core grouping is a pretty awful classing or grading of stores but at least individual staff will now know how they see their futures at HB - its not going to go away and if you feel that working for HB or retail in general is not suitable bearing in mind all the effects of online shopping then its time to plan to leave - not easy but what else can you do? I dont want folk to take that the wrong way but imagine if HB went into a Woolies scenario - the whole thing suddenly falls apart you would have no choice but to do something.
The HB situation is very well commented upon on this forum but what is going on at Wickes, B&Q, Wilkinsens, BHS, M&S etc. I dare say they are also changing and not all these changes are going to be nice for staff involved.
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Published prior to March 2014
Ok work out in your store how many team leaders and management team are in your store on a daily basis then see how many colleagues work below them.....in my store personally we have 5 team leaders and 3 managers to a total team of 30 staff.
No company works at such stretched payroll and it works out that some leadership have 1 maybe 2 people to look after between them some days. This is the next thing it's obvious with such minimal staff and so many managment and team leaders they'd going to have to be a cut
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Published prior to March 2014
Good old homebase. The latest core and non core announcement has created further panic and total confusion.staff at non core stores know its not if but when they are going to close but no dates are given.could be next week or could be upto three years. It shows homebase has a blatant disregard to its staff,how can staff plan ahead?
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Published prior to March 2014
TL issue has been a rumour for a long time. Feeling not good across the business with even long standing store managers looking for work elsewhere. One particular region has lost its regional manager and HRBP within the last three months, with one of them claiming there is a lot to come and that it's going to be a real dog fight so are leaving. Also have heard the stores director has jumped ship as well - the figurehead of liberation.
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Published prior to March 2014
Anon is in the main correct, non core are though not all loss making stores , some are profit makers but do not fit the future . If a suitable offer were to come along then the business would look to off load.
Any core store as Anon says can become a non core if sales/profit slides , thats life. No core store is safe from closure although unlikely to have another Battersea case, if you have a core store and someone offered you 57m you would take it.
Investment in non core will be limited no cap ex of much volume , but ranges and stock will be refreshed and basic maintenance will continue. Any non core has the opportunity through trading to get into a core estate just as the reverse is true.
At least they have been honest enough to clear all this up as far as possible .
TL lots of talk here on removal , no discussion at store level and no move to take any roles out , although payroll has been cut to get better cost to sale.
Investment in Argos , Habitat increases .
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Published prior to March 2014
If a store has on average any less then 10 staff per team leader then they will lose as many team leaders to bring it to the correct ratio.
This is fact and will happen April 2015 but will only be for non core stores
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Published prior to March 2014
This Classification of core (about 200 stores) and non core is true plus the closure stores. My understanding is that 'core' are the ones to get future investment, possible Argos in HB units and these core stores are mainly in the south, non core are stores that are loss making and the company would like to get rid of but cannot do so due to costs or other factors that make closure more expensive than leaving them to carry on, but the non core will not get the latest kit, equipment or any investment and will have to make do with what they have. If someone wants these stores say the Range or B and M then they will be listened to and if possible sold or handed over to who wants them. What is unknown is can a store pull its socks up and be moved to core from non core and vice versa?
I feel unless someone can correst me, if you are core store and start to miss targets and become a loss maker, then if you can be closed you will otherwise you fall into non core.
But this might go someway to ease fears of staff this in my view this could all change if HB were sold off by HRG with a new owner more willing to axe poor performing stores.
The TL issue may or may not be true, but the feeling of how many a store requires and store size could be a way forward - it also remove more full time posts too so I can see the attraction, i think the roles at risk are in the following order;
CSTL
Replen
Service
Shopfloor
Ops not included
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Published prior to March 2014
Any one know about this Homebase having core and non core stores ??
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Published prior to March 2014
I agree that team leaders will be the next hit, I am a team leader in a small store on a daily basis I look after a maximum of 3 or 4 colleagues. This with the manager and deputy manager in as well. The future doesn't look good but until homebase just tell us what's going on we Will just have to wait
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Published prior to March 2014
No team leaders are not safe, there will be a cut back in head office if not already announced, after which the next steps will be to divide the stores into different types the bigger stores will keep the team leaders, smaller stores being called non core stores will lose them using only managers and ONE team leader to run the store, this will be done on competence levels so the team leader who delivers their role best to be the one kept.
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Published prior to March 2014
Not sure where all the TL discussion has come from, there has been no discussion on removal
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Published prior to March 2014
HB has announced stores are either "core" or "non-core". The former ( mainly down south) get investment and the latter ( mainly up north) will close when lease ends or is sold. There are 70 on the closure list on top of those already announced so many new names. Closures could be at any time. Some people already serving notice in locations now closing immediately the rest left dangling. At Head Office the Retail team is losing 100 jobs. I suppose that at least staff now know their fate although there will be no formal public announcement, but they still don't always know when they will close.
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Published prior to March 2014
By Anon the third or is it the fourth
Anyone more news on the TL issue yet?
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Published prior to March 2014
Read my comments from December 12 - Some of these stores have closed,some are closing and others will be.
Robin
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Published prior to March 2014
sor for staff lot they job acc not much left now thing hb need sort out get with it
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Published prior to March 2014
3 "managers" means only 2 in on each day of the week allowing for days off. If there is a holiday or sickness this means 6 or 7 day working and long hours. Small businesses don't usually trade 80 hrs a week over 7 days. This becomes nearly 90 hrs adding on opening and closing routines. Key holding is the only answer but the whole saga of responsibility pay then arises. This is partly why team leaders existed in the first place at Homebase and many other retailers. Paying extra money to keyhold per shift assumes willingness on the part of the staff and that HB is willing to pay extra in the first place!
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