Changes at Kingfisher

Helen Weir, head of finance, is leaving the UK group

Clearly ahead in France

Kingfisher reports 3.6 per cent like-for-like growth in the third quarter

Senior management changes

Bill Whiting to step down from his position as Chief Executive of B&Q

Obi: Financial year 2002/2003

Italian-Chinese joint venture

Bologna Fiere and CMP Sinexpo intend to stage two fairs jointly

Agreement between Leroy Merlin and Domaxel

Leroy Merlin has acquired a 50 per cent stake in the French cooperative Domaxel (Weldom)

New fair phasing

The International Hardware Fair/Practical World will be held every two years after 2004; under consideration is a tool fair for the odd years

New size

Lowe’s has considerably increased its store size for smaller catchment areas

Specially good in Germany and Eastern Europe

Metro has praise for its subsidiary, Praktiker, for double-digit rates of growth in the first three quarters