'Del Boy Billionaire' swoops for Homebase

A retail tycoon dubbed the 'Del Boy Billionaire' is set to swoop in to save troubled  DIY chain Homebase after it prepared to call in the administrators.

Chris Dawson, who owns The Range, became one of Britain's richest men as he amassed a retail empire - despite claiming to be so poor as a child he didn't own his first pair of underpants until he was 12.

Reports suggest he is lining up a deal to fold 70 of the home improvement stores into his business in a move that could save 1,600 jobs - and could snap up the Homebase brand and its website in a £30million deal.

Mr Dawson pulled a similar move last September after agreeing to buy the Wilko name, website and intellectual property - entitling him to use the Wilko brand as he sees fit - for £5million after the British homeware chain collapsed. 

Homebase owners Hilco, who bought the firm for a token £1 in 2018, announced this morning it was appointing insolvency experts after reporting an £84.2 million loss last year.

The firm's collapse could sound the death knell for another British high street chain after beloved brands including BHS, Wilko, Debenhams, The Body Shop and CarpetRight ran into financial trouble. 

Some have been resurrected as online brands, or live on as zombies of their former selves with just a handful of stores where there was once an empire of hundreds. 

Damian McGloughlin, the managing director of Homebase, told suppliers in August it would begin an 'active sale process' to seek new investment.

Why a plan to sell barbeques to Brits in winter sent Homebase into a spiral 

Homebase was co-founded by Sainsbury's in the late 1970s as the supermarket chain looked to diversify its business.

But after Sainsbury's sold off the firm in the early 2000s it formed part of the Home Retail Group empire, with Argos and Habitat for stablemates.

In 2016, Australian firm Wesfarmers paid £340m for Homebase - and proceeded to run it in baffling fashion.

The entire senior management team was fired, and Wesfarmers tried to lump Brits with Australian sales tactics - including selling barbeques in winter. 

A consignment of mole traps was also sent to Ireland for sale - despite the country having no moles.

The firm lost £420m under Wesfarmers' ownership after posting a £24m operating profit the year before it was bought over. Wesfarmers, humiliated, sold it to current owners Hilco for just £1. 

Hilco Capital began looking at ways to cut costs earlier this year, blaming overly cautious consumers not splashing out on DIY projects.

The deal will see Homebase subjected to a 'pre-pack' administration sale that sees the firm's assets bundled up and purchased by another company, which could save some stores and jobs.

If Mr Dawson's purchase goes ahead, around 70 stores and 1,600 staff will be retained - though another 1,000 staff could be at risk of redundancy. 

Sainsbury's bought at least 10 stores and there are talks of selling a further 10 to rivals Wickes and Topps.

Mr Dawson told The Telegraph he is 'delighted to be able to save so many stores and jobs'.

Analysts suggest Homebase may have run into trouble because of high borrowing costs - stopping homeowners from investing in improvements to their properties.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: 'It's been tough going in the home renovation market, as consumers have tightened their belts amid high borrowing costs. 

'Even though interest rates have begun to come down, homeowners have been ultra cautious, with bigger ticket items hard to shift.

'Some consumers appear to have been ring-fencing spending for holidays and experiences rather than major makeovers.'

She added that competitors such as B&M and Home Bargains - which sell much cheaper, mass-market furniture - will have cleaned up at Homebase's expense.

Ms Streeter continued: 'The Range appears to have found a recipe for success with its pile 'em high, sell 'em cheaper approach to homewares, and appears to be mulling expanding its footprint by taking a chunk of Homebase stores. 

'The future for others remains uncertain, although there may be other takers in the "value" end of the home market, who could swoop in with a cut-price offer.'

Homebase was co-founded by Sainsbury's in the late 1970s as the supermarket chain looked to diversify its business.

But after Sainsbury's sold off the firm in the early 2000s it formed part of the Home Retail Group empire, with Argos and Habitat for stablemates.

In 2016, Australian firm Wesfarmers paid £340m for Homebase - and proceeded to run it in baffling fashion.

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The 'Del Boy billionaire' who bought Wilko: The Range boss Chris Dawson who bought chain's brand (and saved just 36 jobs)

The entire senior management team was fired, and Wesfarmers tried to lump Brits with Australian sales tactics - including selling barbeques in winter. 

A consignment of mole traps was also sent to Ireland for sale - despite the country having no moles.

The firm lost £420m under Wesfarmers' ownership after posting a £24m operating profit the year before it was bought over. Wesfarmers, humiliated, sold it to current owners Hilco for just £1.

Hilco has previously overseen the resurrection of HMV, buying it in 2013 before selling it to Sunrise Records, and the sale of designer label Cath Kidston to Next. It also had a hand in the administration of BHS, Peacocks and Debenhams.

Chris Dawson, the 'Del Boy Billionaire' who may be the firm's unlikely saviour currently resides at number 70 on the Sunday Times Rich List - and lives in Monaco.

The moniker is due to his distinctive DE11 BOY number plate on his £350,000 Rolls-Royce Wraith coupe.

Mr Dawson, 71, also managed to save part of beloved High Street chain Wilko after finalising a deal to buy the name, website and intellectual property for £5m last year.

He makes no secret of his unabashed desire to be rich, once telling the Mail that as each person comes into his shop he thinks 'kerching, kerching, kerching!'

His humble beginnings saw him and his two brothers raised on a council estate in Plymouth, with their labourer father Thomas and his cleaner mother, Elsie.

Prospects were bleak - his younger brother still lives in the same house - and money was so sparse that he claims he did not own his first pair of pants until he was 12.

As a boy, he struggled academically and was so severely dyslexic that he left school without a single qualification, unable to read and write.

But dyslexia did not stymie a budding business brain: he began selling ice-creams at the age of seven, before taking on three paper rounds - two of which he subcontracted to friends.

He also earned money by doing early-morning wake-up calls for military officers in his garrison home town of Plymouth and began selling teas to builders on construction sites at the age of 14.

He later embarked on a career as a scrap metal dealer, 'borrowing' leftover scraps from his school technology class.

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He is a self-confessed workaholic, sleeping only six hours per day and admitting he does nothing to relax, except work.

He reportedly does not have a work email and instead communicates with employees in a regular early-morning conference calls, ensuring he is physically and metaphorically everywhere in the business at all times.

In 2015 he was said to have left grieving relatives 'distraught' after his car blocked a body from being taken into a funeral home.

The deceased's body had just been collected from hospital and driven to an undertakers in Plymouth, Devon.

But when the private ambulance arrived a Range Rover belonging to Mr Dawson was discovered parked outside the clearly marked entrance meaning the ambulance couldn't be reversed in.

The Range later 'apologised for any inconvenience' the vehicle had caused.

In August, Sainsbury's agreed to acquire 10 Homebase stores and convert them into supermarkets in a deal which is anticipated to create around 1,000 new jobs. 

The locations set for conversion are located in Sutton Coldfield, Bromsgrove, Cromer, Derry/Londonderry, Fareham, Inverurie, Lowestoft, Newark, Omagh and Rugby.