INDEX / DIRECTORY / B&Q / MILITARY

B&Q MILITARY

MILITARY AUDIT UPDATED 2026-09-22
Military Score 0.00 /10 C B&Q - BDS-1000 455
Military 0.00

Evidence-only forensic audit. Scoring happens downstream - see the main dossier for the composite assessment.

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Audit Phase: Military Audit
Target Company: B&Q, including B&Q UK Limited and its parent group, Kingfisher plc. 1, 2, 3, 4
Entity Scope: Direct and indirect military- and defence-sector exposure, with particular attention to Israeli defence, security, occupation, and settlement-linked supply chains.

Direct Defence Contracting & Procurement

B&Q is a UK home-improvement and DIY retailer within Kingfisher plc, whose group reporting identifies B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt, Screwfix, TradePoint and Koçtaş among its retail banners and operations. 1, 2, 3, 5 Kingfisher plc is a UK-listed parent company with a Board, Board committees and Group Executive, while a Kingfisher-hosted statutory document identifies B&Q UK Limited as a relevant group legal entity as at 31 January 2025. 6, 4

Kingfisher’s 2025/26 accounts describe retail operating segments by banner and geography, rather than defence activity. 3 The group describes central sourcing and buying, own-exclusive-brand development, technology, partnerships and shared services that support its banners. 3 Kingfisher also records a 50% Group interest in Koçtaş Yapı Marketleri Ticaret A.Ş. in Turkey. 3

No public evidence identified of any contract, tender award, memorandum of understanding, framework agreement, SIBAT listing, defence-exhibition listing, or procurement award between B&Q or Kingfisher and the Israeli Ministry of Defence, IDF, Israel Prison Service, Israel Border Police, or another Israeli military, police, prison, border-security, or defence-prime body. 7, 8, 9, 3

Kingfisher’s FY2024/25 reporting describes B&Q as holding UK Armed Forces Covenant Gold membership; the report presents this as an employment and community credential and does not identify it as a supply, procurement, or commercial relationship with Israeli forces or another armed force. 10

The 2025/26 report identifies Claudia Arney, Thierry Garnier, Bhavesh Mistry, Lucinda Riches, Jeff Carr, Sophie Gasperment, Bill Lennie and Ian McLeod as Board members, with disclosed experience and external appointments that do not record Israeli defence-industry, Israeli security-body, or settlement-organisation roles. 3 Thierry Garnier announced his resignation on 6 May 2026 but remained CEO and a Board member during a 12-month notice period. 11 no public evidence identified in the bounded targeted research and issuer disclosures that the Chair or CEO disclosed equity, board, contracting, or family-office roles involving physical goods, infrastructure, or logistics supplied to Israeli military, police, prison, border, occupation, or settlement bodies. 3, 11, 10

This finding is limited to reviewed public disclosures and targeted searches; it does not independently exclude undisclosed investments, donations, family-office holdings, or every current or former director, executive, founder, shareholder principal, and associated vehicle. 3, 10

Silchester International Investors LLP’s latest located disclosed position was 9.97% of Kingfisher voting rights, following a 10.97% position recorded as at 31 January 2026. 3 Kingfisher’s shares carry one vote each, subject to ordinary statutory information-request provisions, and the reviewed disclosures identify no Silchester board-seat right, veto, shareholder agreement, nomination right, special voting right, or other enhanced governance right. 3, 11, 5 The disclosed holding establishes voting-rights influence, but no public evidence identified of a controlling interest or special governance influence relevant to controlling-principal attribution. 3, 11, 5

Dual-Use Products & Tactical Variants

B&Q’s documented activity spans DIY, home improvement and garden retail through Kingfisher’s consumer and trade-professional banners. 1, 2, 3, 5 no public evidence identified of B&Q manufacturing, marketing, or distributing ruggedised, tactical, mil-spec, or defence-grade variants of its consumer or trade-facing product lines. 3

No public evidence identified of B&Q’s consumer or trade product range being sold under military specification to Israeli state bodies, or of an export licence, end-user certificate, export-control review, grant, denial, suspension, or revocation concerning B&Q- or Kingfisher-sourced goods for Israeli military or security end-users. 3

Heavy Machinery, Construction & Infrastructure

B&Q’s documented Middle East presence is a franchise partnership with Al-Futtaim Group, which operates B&Q-branded stores in Saudi Arabia, including two Riyadh stores. 12, 13 No equivalent B&Q franchise, licensee, or branch presence in Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territories was identified in the reviewed research. 12, 13, 3

A historical, non-military settlement-supply-chain lead concerns Keter Plastic products. 4, 10, 14 A UK-focused report from approximately 2011–12 stated that Keter products were sold by B&Q and that Keter had plants in the Barkan settlement industrial zone, while expressly stating that factory origin for retailer-sold products was unclear and settlement origin was a possibility rather than an established fact for B&Q stock. 14 On 24 April 2012, Corporate Watch reported that B&Q had told campaigners it would seek supplier confirmation that products had not been made by a company operating in a conflict zone or occupied territory and would use exit strategies if progress towards that aim was not achieved; the underlying B&Q correspondence was not independently retrieved. 4 On 3 December 2012, The Irish Times reported that Keter garden furniture, sheds and storage products were sold through B&Q and alleged manufacture in or near the Ariel settlement area. 10

These materials establish historical public reporting and campaign scrutiny involving a third-party retail supplier, not that B&Q procured goods from a Barkan or Ariel facility, that a particular B&Q product originated in a settlement, that the relationship continued after 2012, or that any product reached Israeli security or military end-users. 4, 10, 14 no public evidence identified of B&Q equipment, vehicles, tools, or building materials documented by NGO investigations, UN reporting, or photographic evidence as used in Israeli settlement construction, the West Bank separation barrier, or military-installation construction in the OPT. 15, 16, 17, 18, 3

No verified direct, distributor, or secondary-market supply pathway connecting B&Q products to those end-uses was identified. 3 no public evidence identified of B&Q or Kingfisher holding construction, engineering, demolition, barrier, checkpoint, detention-facility, military-base, or settlement-infrastructure contracts. 3

Supply Chain Integration with Defence Primes

Cross-checks against published UK supplier-to-Elbit reporting and arms-trade monitoring did not name B&Q or Kingfisher as a supplier. 7, 8, 9 no public evidence identified of B&Q or Kingfisher supplying components, sub-systems, raw materials, manufacturing services, logistics, or other goods to Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, IMI, Elbit Land, or another Israeli defence prime. 7, 8, 9, 3

No public evidence identified of joint development, co-production, technology transfer, or other industrial collaboration between B&Q or Kingfisher and an Israeli defence prime contractor. 3

Logistical Sustainment & Base Services

No public evidence identified of B&Q providing catering, transport, fuel, waste management, facilities maintenance, freight forwarding, port handling, telecommunications, or other logistical sustainment services to IDF bases, training facilities, detention centres, checkpoints, military installations, or military cargo. 3 This includes facilities in the West Bank, Golan Heights, East Jerusalem, the Negev, or elsewhere. 3

No public evidence identified of shipping, freight, or port-handling contracts servicing Israeli defence logistics or military cargo, as distinct from B&Q’s routine commercial retail-goods shipping and distribution operations. 3

Munitions, Weapons Systems & Strategic Platforms

No public evidence identified of B&Q or Kingfisher acting as a manufacturer, licensed producer, or component supplier for small arms, artillery, armoured vehicles, tactical drones, naval vessels, Iron Dome, David’s Sling, Arrow, fighter aircraft, main battle tanks, ballistic-missile systems, fire-control systems, guidance systems, military artificial intelligence, or strategic-platform components. 3

No public evidence identified of involvement in munitions, explosive ordnance, propellant, warhead-component, weapons-component, or lethal-system supply. 3

Export Licensing, Regulatory & Legal History

No public evidence identified of export-licence grants, denials, suspensions, revocations, sanctions or arms-embargo enforcement actions, sanctions-compliance investigations, court proceedings, or judicial-review matters naming B&Q or Kingfisher in connection with Israeli defence trade or an Israel-linked defence-supply relationship. 3

Civil Society Scrutiny & Documented Investigations

The UN Human Rights Office’s business-enterprise database concerning Israeli settlement activity was updated in September 2025 to list 158 entities across 11 countries, concentrated in construction, real estate, mining/quarrying, and banking/finance; B&Q, Kingfisher, Castorama, Brico Dépôt and Screwfix were not named in the retrieved versions. 15, 16, 19 A document-scoped review also found no full-text mention of those entities in the specified UN, OHCHR, PAX, Al-Haq, DBIO, Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, BDS, KLP, BankTrack or Who Profits publications. 3

Who Profits returned no matching B&Q or Kingfisher company profile in the reviewed search. 17 AFSC Investigate likewise returned no B&Q- or Kingfisher-specific entry, and DBIO’s resource archive contained no B&Q- or Kingfisher-specific report, campaign page or listing. 20, 18

No public evidence identified of an Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, or Corporate Occupation report specifically addressing a B&Q military, security, or dual-use supply-chain relationship with Israel. 3 no public evidence identified of an organised boycott or divestment campaign targeting B&Q specifically for Israeli defence supply. 3

Corporate Watch’s 2012 public request that B&Q clarify whether it would discontinue Keter products concerned then-reported settlement-industrial-zone operations, rather than an allegation of B&Q defence-sector activity. 4 B&Q currently states that it applies minimum workplace standards to manufacturers globally and uses vendor engagement for thematic supply-chain risks, but its cited page does not identify Israel, occupied territory, Keter, military end-use, or a settlement-origin monitoring process. 6

No public evidence identified of B&Q public statements, contract terminations, or end-use-monitoring commitments issued specifically in response to Israel-related civil-society pressure. 3

Footnotes

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%26Q ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingfisher_plc ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. https://www.kingfisher.com/~/media/Files/K/Kingfisher-Plc/Universal/investors/result-reports-presentation/2026/2526-annual-report-and-accounts.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18 ↩19 ↩20 ↩21 ↩22 ↩23 ↩24 ↩25 ↩26 ↩27 ↩28 ↩29 ↩30 ↩31

  4. https://corporatewatch.org.uk/bid-370/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  5. https://www.kingfisher.com/about-us ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  6. https://www.diy.com/responsible-business/operations/supply-chain-ethics ↩ ↩2

  7. https://www.declassifieduk.org/exposed-the-uk-firms-supplying-elbit-systems/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  8. https://caat.org.uk/data/companies/elbit-systems/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  9. https://caat.org.uk/data/countries/israel/israels-arms-industry-its-links-with-the-uk/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  10. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/human-cost-items-imported-from-israeli-settlements-1.533 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  11. https://www.kingfisher.com/media/news/2026/directorate-change ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  12. https://www.global-franchise.com/news/bq-to-expand-to-the-middle-east-through-partnership-with-the-al-futtaim-group ↩ ↩2

  13. https://www.rli.uk.com/al-futtaim-group-open-two-bq-franchise-stores-in-riyadh/ ↩ ↩2

  14. https://www.france-palestine.org/IMG/pdf/prosper_palestine___0828_pp_research.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  15. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/09/un-human-rights-office-updates-database-businesses-involved-israeli ↩ ↩2

  16. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session31/database-hrc3136/23-06-30-Update-israeli-settlement-opt-database-hrc3136.pdf ↩ ↩2

  17. https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/3794 ↩ ↩2

  18. https://dontbuyintooccupation.org/resources/ ↩ ↩2

  19. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_operating_in_West_Bank_settlements ↩

  20. https://investigate.afsc.org/about ↩