B&Q B&Q B&Q plc is a British multinational DIY and home improvement retailing company, headquartered in Eastleigh, England, United Kingdom and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kingfisher plc. Founded by Richard Block and David Quayle in 1969 originally as Block & Quayle, the retail chain offers over 40,000 products across three hundred physical shops and online shops. Since 2015, B&Q has been closing a number of shops, in favour of converting some to outlets of Screwfix. The company also has some outlets in Ireland. Shops in Taiwan and China were unsuccessful, and closed down in 2007 and 2015 respectively. B&Q
First Quench Retailing First Quench Retailing First Quench Retailing was the largest independent off-licence retail chain in the UK, with around 1,300 shops operating under several retail brands, though all have now been closed. At the time of First Quench's closure, these included the Threshers, Haddows, The Local and Wine Rack chains. Its head office was based in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. On 29 October 2009 it was announced that the company had gone into administration. The company was originally formed as First Quench Retailing by the merger of the Whitbread owned Threshers and the Allied Domecq owned Victoria Wine in August 1998.