Kingfisher's B&Q looks east as it opens 70th store in Poland

Kingfisher, the owner of the DIY chain B&Q, will today hail an "important milestone" in its 30-year history when it opens its 1,000th store globally in Poland. It will unveil its 70th store, pictured, in the Eastern European country under its Castorama banner in Lublin. Kingfisher – which has operations in eight countries, including France and China – has more than doubled its number of stores in Poland in the last six years. The group has grown its store presence worldwide by nearly 50 per cent over the same period.

Its chief executive Ian Cheshire said: "There is scope for many more stores in our developing markets, including Poland, Turkey and Russia." Kingfisher, the world's third-largest DIY group, saw profits fall 15.5 per cent to £371m over the 26 weeks to 28 July after the disastrous summer hit sales of products like plants and barbecues. Polish sales grew by 2.3 per cent to £513m.

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