Where DIY retailing is growing in the UK
544 DIY retailing outlets across 2 brands are in the h3hex Data Store in the November 2026 release. In the local-area tables ONS area E06000066 has the most, with 8, or 0.1 per 10,000 residents; the top 25 local areas together hold 116 (21% of outlets with a mapped local area). The largest like-for-like net gain since the previous release is in County Durham (+1).
Outlet and brand counts are the Data Store's: every brand on sale, with every outlet in its file. The local-area and growth tables count the trading outlets in h3hex's master dataset that map to a local area, so their totals can be lower.
Which local areas have the most DIY retailing outlets?
| # | Local area | Outlets | Brands present | Per 10,000 residents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ONS area E06000066 | 8 | 2: B&Q, Wickes | 0.1 |
| 2 | Wiltshire | 7 | 2: B&Q, Wickes | 0.1 |
| 3 | Birmingham | 6 | 2: Wickes, B&Q | 0.1 |
| 4 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 5 | 2: B&Q, Wickes | 0.1 |
| 5 | Bradford | 5 | 2: B&Q, Wickes | 0.1 |
| 6 | Buckinghamshire | 5 | 2: Wickes, B&Q | 0.1 |
| 7 | County Durham | 5 | 2: B&Q, Wickes | 0.1 |
| 8 | Leeds | 5 | 2: Wickes, B&Q | 0.1 |
| 9 | North Northamptonshire | 5 | 2: Wickes, B&Q | 0.1 |
| 10 | West Suffolk | 5 | 2: B&Q, Wickes | 0.3 |
| 11 | Cheshire East | 4 | 2: B&Q, Wickes | 0.1 |
| 12 | Cheshire West and Chester | 4 | 2: B&Q, Wickes | 0.1 |
| 13 | Cornwall | 4 | 2: B&Q, Wickes | 0.1 |
| 14 | Dudley | 4 | 2: B&Q, Wickes | 0.1 |
| 15 | Fife | 4 | 2: B&Q, Wickes | - |
| 16 | Glasgow City | 4 | 2: B&Q, Wickes | - |
| 17 | Greenwich | 4 | 2: B&Q, Wickes | 0.1 |
| 18 | Haringey | 4 | 2: B&Q, Wickes | 0.2 |
| 19 | Kirklees | 4 | 2: B&Q, Wickes | 0.1 |
| 20 | ONS area E06000063 | 4 | 2: B&Q, Wickes | 0.1 |
| 21 | ONS area E06000065 | 4 | 2: B&Q, Wickes | 0.1 |
| 22 | Sefton | 4 | 2: B&Q, Wickes | 0.1 |
| 23 | Sheffield | 4 | 2: B&Q, Wickes | 0.1 |
| 24 | South Gloucestershire | 4 | 2: B&Q, Wickes | 0.1 |
| 25 | Stoke-on-Trent | 4 | 2: B&Q, Wickes | 0.1 |
Local areas are local authority districts. Brands present shows how many brands have an outlet there and the five with the most.
Which local areas added the most DIY retailing outlets?
| # | Local area | Net change | Previous release | This release | All outlets now |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | County Durham | +1 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| 2 | ONS area E06000066 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| 3 | Wiltshire | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| 4 | Birmingham | 0 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| 5 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 0 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 6 | Buckinghamshire | 0 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 7 | North Northamptonshire | 0 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 8 | West Suffolk | 0 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 9 | Bradford | 0 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 10 | Leeds | 0 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
Net change in outlets for brands present in both releases, for local areas with at least 5 outlets in the sector. No brand in this sector is new to this release.
How these figures are made
Counts are h3hex's own store-by-store record of each brand's published UK locations for the brands listed in the DIY retailing sector of the h3hex data store, November 2026 release (scrape window 30 Oct - 3 Nov 2026), page built 2026-11-12. Closed, pre-opening and head-office records are left out. 0 outlets with no mappable postcode are counted in the totals but not in the local-area tables. 4 districts created in 2023 are shown by their ONS code because the postcode lookup used here carries no name for them. Net change compares this release with the 29 October 2026 edition of the same dataset and reflects openings and closures as well as improved coverage of each brand's own locator. Resident population is Census 2021 usual-resident population by output area, summed to local authority district through the ONS postcode-to-output-area lookup (May 2024). The population table does not join to the lookup for districts in Northern Ireland and Scotland, so outlets per 10,000 residents is shown as - for them.
Use the data
Prospect site reports assess a single address against these brands, and the data store sells the DIY retailing store lists brand by brand or as a sector bundle.
More DIY & hardware sectors
- All DIY & Hardware5,822 outlets · 22 brands
- Trade counter1,532 outlets · 2 brands
- Builders merchant1,364 outlets · 5 brands
- Trade kitchen supplier1,082 outlets · 2 brands
- Decorator centre624 outlets · 3 brands
- Plumbers merchant362 outlets · 2 brands
- Bathroom retail221 outlets · 2 brands
How many DIY retailing outlets are there in the UK?
h3hex tracks 544 branded DIY retailing outlets from 2 brands in the UK as at the November 2026 release. In the local-area tables, ONS area E06000066 has the most, with 8.
Which DIY retailing brands are growing?
Between the previous release and the November 2026 release, the brands adding the most outlets were Wickes (+4) and B&Q (+1).
Which DIY retailing brands have the most UK outlets?
B&Q (309) and Wickes (235), as at the November 2026 release.