B&Q (short for Block & Quayle after the company's two founders) is a British multinational DIY and home improvement retailing company, headquartered in Eastleigh, England. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kingfisher plc. It was founded in March, 1969 by Richard Block and David Quayle. History 1969 to 1979: Early growth B&Q was founded in March 1969 in Southampton, England, by Richard Block and David Quayle, following the purchase and fitting out of a former furniture warehouse in the Southampton suburb of Portswood. Originally called Block & Quayle, the duo soon shortened the brand to B&Q as stock delivery notes and invoices were already unofficially abbreviating the name. By each working over sixty-hour, six-day weeks, they were able to repay their bank overdraft within six months of opening, with turnover reaching £1 million within the first five years of operating. Following the departure of co founder Block in 1976, the chain quickly expanded, and by 1979, there were twenty six shops across the United Kingdom. 1980s: Buyout and further expansion B&Q grew rapidly through a combination of mergers, acquisitions and expansions, such as the acquisition of a Hampshire UK based company Dodge City at the beginning of the 1980s. The chain was itself acquired by the F. W. Woolworth Company for £16.8m at the beginning of the 1980s, coinciding with David Quayle, who by that time had a personal wealth of £4 million, selling his share. Two years later, F. W. Woolworth's United Kingdom subsidiary (Woolworth's Ltd.) and B&Q were purchased by Paternoster, which became Kingfisher plc and was still B&Q's parent company . B&Q developed two new trading formats: HomeCentres, retailing furniture, bathrooms, soft furniture, flooring and lighting; and AutoCentres, being similar to a Halfords, the first launch taking place at Cribbs Causeway, Bristol, at the end of the 1980s. The concept being to have a HomeCentre, AutoCentre and DIY Superstore with one communal car park. The forays into these new markets were relatively short lived, and the various sites were sold on a couple of years later. The AutoCentres becoming in the main 'Charlie Browns', the HomeCentres being sold off individually. Since 1990 In the mid 1990s, B&Q opened a new format of shop known as the Depot (later changed to B&Q Depot), a forerunner of a new class of shop known as the B&Q Warehouse. The company also began to expand outside the United Kingdom. In