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Woolworths has been in touch to let us know about some specials currently on offer in its DIY range. Here they are:

• 18V Cordless Drill Kit – comes complete with reversible screw bits and a 10mm keyless chuck. Now £20.
• Foldable Workbench – perfect for use in the garden shed, it boasts a strong construction and can withstand a weight of up to 100kg. It has multi-position vice pegs and an adjustable gripping width. Now £10.
• Scaffold ladders – these two six-rung aluminium scaffold ladders can be used as an extending ladder, a single ladder, a step ladder or a complete scaffolding unit. Supplied with stabiliser and plywood deck. Now £64.50.
• Combination Ladder with Platform – a lightweight, aluminium combination ladder with platform, multi-adjustable, so no height is out of reach. Now £49.50.

Check out Woolworths’ full DIY range here >>

We all like things to stay familiar – which has a lot to do with the success of the big High Street DIY chains.

Go into a store and you’ll find exactly what you’re used to, whether you’re in Aberdeen or Ashby de la Zouch, and often in approximately the same position.

But it’s looking like we may have to get used to a few changes.

According to this business article in the American publication Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the UK DIY market could be in for a degree of consolidation.

It is predicting that we could see the break-up of the powerful Kingfisher group, and B&Q being taken over by the major US chain Home Depot:

British chain could open door for Home Depot

Only five years ago, B&Q — the Home Depot of Britain — was riding high in a booming do-it-yourself market. With new chief executive Gerry Murphy at the helm of parent company Kingfisher, the B&Q chain’s profits were buoyed by a nation hooked on home makeover TV shows.

But after two years of decline in Britain’s troubled DIY market, Murphy is due to step down in February, and some analysts say the move could set the stage for an acquisition by Atlanta-based Home Depot, sending it into Europe for the first time.

The analysts believe that with Murphy gone, the Kingfisher group could break up, spinning off the core B&Q business and the chain’s operations in Asia and Russia, the Castorama DIY business in France, and a 21 percent stake in Hornbach, the leading DIY business in Germany.

Thanks to a slumping U.S. housing market, international operations have become key to Home Depot’s growth. Read full article here…

Looking for a little help? We’ll do our best for you.

With Christmas on the way we’ve put together a guide to buying power tools. Now, this could serve as a briefing for present-buying for the DIY fanatic in your life, a handy hint sheet to print out and leave lying casually round the place, or even a shopping list to get you launched on that New Year project you swore you’d get started on. After all, what better time to take advantage of the sales?

Upshot is, this might not be quite the minefield you fear, as long as you put a bit of thought into it and make sure you don’t just grab at the first thing you come across.

Read AllTheToolsYouNeed.com’s top 10 tips for buying power tools here.