We are looking forward to communicating with our new employees from 18 July 2011.

Unfortunately we have legally been unable to contact employees directly until the administrators officially hand over to us.

We apologise for any confusion this may be causing but we are currently bound by regulatory procedures.


Kind Regards,

B&Q

Whilst I feel for the people who will loose their jobs (having been made redundant in the past I genuinely know how they feel) please stop having a dig at B&Q and look to point your disapproving finger at the outgoing management at Focus Head Office. These 'fat cats' will have already taken 100,000's in bonus's from the ailing company and will no doubt walk into similar positions elsewhere. No mention of their future being insecure!

Kingfisher (B&Q) could have simply waited till the Focus stores closed down and then taken out a fresh lease and put in their own staff without the constraints of TUPE.

Look at this as positive that at least some jobs will be created/saved.

For many years Focus staff (most, knowledgeable and hard working) have played second fiddle to other DIY retailers with sub standard offerings and over inflated pricing, maybe this is why Focus failed?

For those who will be retained by B&Q I sincerely hope you thrive in your new environment. To those who will sadly be seeking a new direction, good luck you have a wealth of knowledge that will be of benefit to any future employer.

YIPPEE

I too went through the recruitment day for B and Q and got an interview, at this interview it was expressed to me, that B&Q had little intreast in focus staff (they have been in the job to long, is what i was told) I have turned other job offers down whilst waiting to hear, as it was indicated to me that i would be successful, I really wanted to work for B&Q because of the good impression they gave. Now i would rather shop online or drive the extra distance to homebase than give them my buissness. B&Q get your act together and stop dicking everyone around!!

Hello fellow colleague (Quizzical) but your info is incorrect. We can not get contractual redundancy if we are Tupe'd over to B&Q. Look up TUPE law for clarification on Google.

im with you dick.. i also work for focus and i could cut and paste what u wrote... i had an interview.. but 6 of the staff from my store got turned down without an interview... to me the wording is word on the statement... should be created not saved... and 20hrs a week for 6.07 an hour... reallly hows that gonna pay a morgage...

This news is ridiculous, After being informed we are now under redundancy notice, I proactivley looked into a new career and have basically committed to new training and paying for it (which I borrowed) using what would have been redundancy money, only to hear I may not now get my redundancy money. Thanks B&Q for keeping us informed and putting me and probably many others in debt we cannot now afford.

i agree with all comments left, my poor partner a loyal focus employee of 20 years has been interviewed by b and q and rejected ! then reads this kingfisher announcement and starts getting his hopes up,,,, it cruel to him and our family, and all his collegues .. we are in pieces over this unscertanty, b and q owe us all an explaination, soon. We all pray that The Toupe law is put in place and all the staff keep their much needed jobs... b and q (kingfisher)if you value your reputation as a decent business you need to do the decent thing and put these poor people, 600 of them out of their misery.

when is b&q going to inform focus staf that there jobs have been saved ,because as of yet no one has bothers
as far as we are concerned we are all out of work in the next couple of weeks ....THANKS B&Q !!!!!!

Well said, I work for focus to and we have been well and truly stitched up. I was lucky enough to get through the application proses and was offered a part time job of twenty five hours a week for over a pound an hour less than I get now, I was told this was the reason we were not transferred over as B&Q don t do full time. The talk of six hundred jobs being saved is just spin the six hundred jobs are the jobs B&Q have created by not transferring Focus staff. By the way the tax payer is footing the bill for the redundancy and also subsidising B&Q as part time staff on 6.10 an hour are not going to pay any tax or national insurance and will more than likely have there tax credits increased. It must be hard times at Kingfisher??

Great news the OFT has approved this sale, but B&Q's statement that 600 jobs are saved rings hollow when the staff are already working their notice, having been served redundancy, and managers are already deployed from within B&Q to take these stores on! How are the jobs being saved? The colleagues who have been interviewed and got through the process successfully are almost all being offered part time contracts, whether they're full time or not, and each Focus management team is unlikely to be retained given that their jobs have already been allocated from within the B&Q framework? Job creation yes, jobs saved, I don't think so!