High street giant B&Q will open a new store format in March, exclusively for trade customers. The chain plans to expand its TradePoint brand, and the first trade-only store is set for Barking across a 32,000 sq ft site. 

Traders will get access to one-to-one service, extended opening hours, fast collection and delivery, and thousands of products. More than 5,500 items will be available immediately, while an extended range of over 25,000 products will be available for collection or delivery. The DIY retailer said the investment represents a major step towards making TradePoint a £1billion business. In the first half of 2025, TradePoint represented 22.4% of B&Q’s total sales.

B&Q chief executive Graham Bell said: “Growing TradePoint is a strategic priority for B&Q and we’re proud to be launching this new standalone B&Q TradePoint store concept to help make life easier for tradespeople and to help them grow their businesses.

“Our ambition is to make TradePoint a £1bn business and as a key milestone in helping us to achieve that, we’re excited to be testing this new standalone store concept and to welcome tradespeople to the first store in this format at Barking in March.”

The second-largest home improvement and garden products retailer in the UK and Ireland closed 65 stores across the UK last year after it fell into administration.

B&Q agreed to buy five Homebase stores, cementing its position as the country’s largest home improvement retailer, while Sainsbury’s secured ten stores.

In total, its buyers managed to save around 70 branches across the country, after CDS Superstores, which owns The Range and Wilko, partially acquired the chain, with plans to convert it to The Range.