'It was never going to work': Bunnings expected to struggle for buyers in UK

“The Homebase business is not very well positioned now. It’s overpriced and over rented in terms of the properties - all the properties are far too expensive," Mr Grimsey told Fairfax Media.

"They’ve paid too much for it... they’ve arrived in England with a Bunnings format and really plonked Australia into England and that was never going to work."

Mr Grimsey said that with bricks and mortar retailers in the UK faring no better than elsewhere in the world, there was not an obvious buyer for Homebase.

Private equity could be an option, he said, although any investor would only be willing to pay a "very small price".

Wesfarmers managing director Rob Scott has said that closing BUKI was an option, but not a preferred one because of the massive expense of exiting about $1.8 billion worth of leases.

Wesfarmers had already said it was putting aside $70 million to cover the closure of 20 to 40 underperforming stores.

Entering a "company voluntary arrangement" - which under British insolvency law allows a company to renegotiate its debts and contracts - could be used by either Wesfarmers or a new owner to get out of some leases, Mr Grimsey said.

“So a CVA may buy them some time, but they need an expert running it," he said.

“I don’t think it is beyond repair but it’s a big job, and if Wesfarmers want to do it themselves they have to get the right people here to do it."

Wesfarmers fired most of Homebase's senior management when it bought the chain and replaced them with Australian staff.

It has since conceded that much of the damage done to BUKI was self-inflicted, as it alienated loyal Homebase customers by tearing out popular product ranges - including concessions such as Laura Ashley - and introducing products customers did not want.

BUKI's founding managing director PJ Davis retired in February and Wesfarmers has hired Damian McGloughlin, who was a retail director at British home improvement giant B&Q, to run the business.

It is likely Wesfarmers will be looking closely at BUKI's trading over the Easter long weekend, which is a critical few days in the UK as homeowners stock-up on tools and materials for projects around the house and garden during spring.

Wesfarmers is due to report back on its review of BUKI in June. It comes as Mr Scott reshapes the face of Wesfarmers by spinning off its biggest business, Coles, into a separately listed company on the ASX.