'Del Boy billionaire' set to rescue some Homebase stores and save nearly 1,600 jobs

Former market trader Chris Dawson, founder of bargain chain The Range, is reportedly in pole position to snap-up dozens of Homebase stores if the business goes into administration

A high street magnate nicknamed the “Del Boy billionaire” is poised to part rescue DIY chain Homebase.

Reports say former market trader Chris Dawson, who owns discount chain The Range, is finalising a takeover of as many as 70 Homebase stores. The deal is expected to save nearly 1,600 jobs. But up to 1,000 shop workers and head office staff are at risk of losing their jobs unless a buyer can be found for the rest of the business, which has 130 stores.

Plymouth-based Mr Dawson, who is worth £2.5billion, is also expected to buy the Homebase brand and its website in a deal worth around £30million.

The publicity-shy businessman, who owns a Rolls Royce with the reg DE11 Boy, told The Telegraph: “We are delighted to be able to save so many stores and jobs, and look forward to adding the Homebase brand and subsidiaries to the expanding Range group of companies.”

Mr Dawson snapped-up the remnants of the Wilko chain following its collapse last year, and has since opened a number of new Wilko branches.

According to the Telegraph, administrators at Teneo are expected to be appointed to take over at Homebase on Thursday. Mr Dawson’s CDS Superstores - the parent company of The Range - is then lined-up to buy a chunk of its assets.

It emerged over the summer that Homebase owner Hilco Capital, which took control of the chain in 2018, was due to initiate a formal process to sell the chain.

When Hilco took over, Homebase went through a company voluntary arrangement and closed over 100 stores which led to 1,500 job losses.

Homebase lost more than £40million in 2022, according to accounts filed at Companies House, although last year’s performance is believed to have been significantly better.

Mr Dawson, 72, and wife Sarah are at number 70 on the Sunday Times Rich List, after seeing their fortune jump by £475million last year. The tycoon explained the surge in his wealth by saying: “We have done extremely well in international investments. I’m a big investor in hedge funds. This year, they have matured - a tremendous result.” He added: “I’m at it nine days a week, 25 hours a day. I’m a lucky person, I love what I do.”

It emerged last year that he had paid Sarah a £141million dividend. Reports at the time said the payment was unlikely to be liable for UK tax as she now lives in Jersey. The details were revealed in the published accounts of Norton Group, the parent company of The Range. Mr Dawson reportedly said the dividend was partly used to support the development of a 1.2 million sq ft warehouse near Stowmarket, Suffolk, and to pay down sums that the couple had borrowed from the company.

Two Wilko stores in Exeter and Plymouth that closed when the chain collapsed reopened last December, with bosses vowing 300 more will follow. They were the first to launch since Mr Dawson bought the Wilko brand for £5million in September.

CDS was said to looking at reopening around 50 Wilko stores, with Mr Dawson adding: “Those are with the lawyers but it will be 300, more or less where there were.”